livelihood — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   livingsubsistencesustenance

   Examples

   an independent livelihood; to make / earn / gain / win a good livelihood by the sweat of one's brow

   But now when Philtra ſaw my lands decay, And former liuelod fayle, ſhe left me quight[…].

   More examples (6)

   […] a Man may as easily know where to find one, to teach him to Debauch, Whore, Game, and Blaspheme, as to teach him to Write, or Cast Accompt: ’Tis their Support, and Business; nay, their very Profession, and Livelihood; getting their Living by those Practices, for which they deserve to forfeit their Lives.

   1716, Joseph Addison, The Free-Holder, London: D. Midwinter and J. Tonson, No. 42, Monday May 14, p. 245, Trade […] employs Multitudes of Hands both by Sea and Land, and furnishes the poorest of our Fellow-Subjects with the Opportunities of gaining an honest Livelihood.

   And now he’s dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brains to find out some way of helping her to a livelihood without parting her from her child.

   [The Orthodox Jewish shopkeepers] could be seen behind their counters, wearing black skullcaps, full beards, and long earlocks, eking out their meager livelihoods and dreaming of Shabbat and festivals when they could close their stores and turn their attention to their prayers, their rabbi, their God.

   Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles. The cockle-women jog out over the marshes at low tide, riding on flat, horse-drawn carts.

   The legal profession believes that client choice is the best way of ensuring standards remain high, because a lawyer's livelihood depends upon their reputation.

2. Property which brings in an income; an estate.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Then ſayde Peter: Ananias how is it that ſatan hath filled thyne hert thatt thou ſhuldeſt lye vnto the holy gooſt and kepe awaye parte off the pryce off the lyvelod[…]?

3. Liveliness; appearance of life.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Obsolete
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   […] the tiranny of her ſorrowes takes all liuelihood from her cheeke.

4. The course of someone's life; a person's lifetime, or their manner of living; conduct, behaviour.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Obsolete
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   wel said Merlyn I knowe a lord of yours in this land that is a passyng true man & a feithful & he shal haue the nourysshyng of your child & his name is sir Ector & he is a lord of fair lyuelode in many partyes in Englond & walys

Noun

1. the financial means whereby one lives

   Synonyms

   supportkeeplivingbread and buttersustenance

   Broader terms

   resource

   Examples

   each child was expected to pay for their keep

   he applied to the state for support

   More examples (1)

   he could no longer earn his own livelihood