Alive means living, not dead, and able to grow, move, or respond. It can also describe something that feels full of energy or activity.
From Old English phrase *on life* meaning “in life, living,” where *life* was a dative form of *lif* “life.” The phrase merged over time into the single word *alive*.
Alive began as a phrase, “in life,” which you can still feel if you say it slowly. We also use it metaphorically—“the city is alive at night”—to show that our idea of life includes movement, color, and connection, not just a beating heart.
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