different between lively vs convivial

English

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?la?vli/

Etymology 1

From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English l?fl?? (“living, lively, long-lived, necessary to life, vital”), equivalent to life +? -ly. Cognate with Scots lively, lifely (“of or pertaining to life, vital, living, life-like”). Doublet of lifely.

Alternative forms

• lifely (obsolete)

Adjective

lively (comparative livelier, superlative liveliest)

1. Full of life; energetic.
2. Bright, glowing, vivid; strong, vigorous.
   • 1704, Isaac Newton, Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light

     The colours of the prism are manifestly more full, intense, and lively that those of natural bodies.

   • 1688, Robert South, Sacramental Preparation: Set forth in a Sermon on Matthew 5, 12.

     His faith must be not only living, but lively too.

3. (archaic) Endowed with or manifesting life; living.
   • c. 1600, Philemon Holland

     chaplets of gold and silver resembling lively flowers and leaves

4. (archaic) Representing life; lifelike.
   • 1632, Philip Massinger and Nathan Field, The Fatal Dowry

     I spied the lively picture of my father.

5. (archaic) Airy; animated; spirited.
6. (of beer) Fizzy; foamy; tending to produce a large head in the glass.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "lively" is often applied: person, character, lady, woman, man, audience, personality, art, guide, activity, game, lesson, introduction, discussion, debate, writing, image, town, city, village, etc.

Synonyms

• (full of life): frisky, peppy, zestful; see also Thesaurus:active
• (vivid, strong, vigorous): intense
• (endowed with or manifesting life): extant, live, vital; see also Thesaurus:alive
• (representing life): lifey, limned, naturalistic,
• (fizzy, foamy): frothy, spumescent

Derived terms

• liveliness
• look lively

Translations

Noun

lively (plural livelies)

1. (nautical, informal) Term of address.
   • 1846, Herman Melville, Typee

     Speak the word, my livelies, and I'll pilot her in.

Etymology 2

From Middle English lyvely, lifly, from Old English l?fl??e, equivalent to life +? -ly.

Adverb

lively (comparative more lively, superlative most lively)

1. Vigorously.
2. Vibrantly, vividly.
3. (obsolete) In a lifelike manner.
   • , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.220-1:

     the Painter Protogenes […] having perfected the image of a wearie and panting dog, […] but being unable, as he desired, lively to represent the drivel or slaver of his mouth, vexed against his owne worke, took his spunge, and moist as it was with divers colours, threw it at the picture  […].

Translations

Anagrams

• evilly, vilely

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French convivial, from Latin conv?vium (“a feast”), combined form of con- (“together”) + v?v? (“to live”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?v?v.i.?l/

Adjective

convivial (comparative more convivial, superlative most convivial)

1. Having elements of a feast or of entertainment, especially when it comes to eating and drinking, with accompanying festivity
   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 175):

     I put the chief of police behind the bar, instructed him in his duties, and we four convivial spirits sprawled along the counter drinking ale and telling yarns till cockcrow.

   Synonyms: festive, social, gay, jovial, merry

Translations

Related terms

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.vi.vjal/
• Homophones: conviviale, conviviales

Adjective

convivial (feminine singular conviviale, masculine plural conviviaux, feminine plural conviviales)

1. convivial
2. user-friendly

Further reading

• “convivial” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).