nidan verb (upper class) with 'ku' ending (archaic), yodan verb with 'ku' ending (archaic), intransitive verb
Archaic intransitive verb meaning 'to live' or 'to exist'. It is the older form of modern 生きる. Found in classical Japanese texts.
See also: 生きる
nidan verb (lower class) with 'ku' ending (archaic), transitive verb
to bring to life
Archaic transitive verb meaning 'to bring to life' or 'to make alive'. It is the older form of modern 生ける. Used in classical contexts.
See also: 生ける
People in the past said 'iku' for 'to live', but now they say 'ikiru'.
In classical literature, it was used like 'hana wo iku' (to bring flowers to life).
Archaic kanji spelling for the intransitive verb 'to live'. The modern form is 生きる.
Archaic kanji spelling for the transitive verb 'to bring to life'. The modern form is 生ける.
Classical 生く included an intransitive yodan verb meaning “live” and a transitive lower-bigrade verb meaning “keep alive.” Their later forms include 生きる and 生ける respectively.