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liven

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liven¹

  • /ˈlaɪvən/

Rhymes with -aɪvən

Where it comes from

Partly from life + -en; partly from live (adjective) + -en; and partly a shortening of enliven. Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk livna (“to quicken, come alive”), Faroese livna (“to come to life, come alive”), Icelandic lifna (“to come to life”).

verb livens · livening · livened

  1. ambitransitive To cause to be more lively, or to become more lively. Let's liven up this party!

    Similar: liven up, animate, arouse, awaken, beghast, leaven, bright, brighten, cheer, energize, enliven, enthuse

liven²

  • /ˈlɪvən/

Rhymes with -ɪvən

Where it comes from

From Middle English liven, equivalent to live + -en.

verb

  1. obsolete, plural, present plural simple present of live We liven in fear, but we wot not whither to flee for to be better than we arn here.

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MLA

"liven." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/liven. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

liven. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/liven

Chicago

"liven." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/liven.

BibTeX
@misc{liven_2026,
  title = {liven},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/liven},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}