ichidan verb, intransitive verb
live long; have a long life
Describes living for a long time, often with a nuance of surviving or enduring through time. Slightly literary.
祖母は九十歳までながらえた。
My grandmother lived to be ninety.
この木は何百年もながらえている。
This tree has lived for hundreds of years.
Standard kanji spelling emphasizing long duration.
Variant kanji spelling; also emphasizes length of life.
Rare kanji spelling; 存 carries a nuance of continued existence.
Compound of 永 (long) + らえる, an old verb form related to 生える (to grow) or 居る (to be). The exact derivation is uncertain.