survivorship

noun

sur·​vi·​vor·​ship sər-ˈvī-vər-ˌship 

1

: the legal right of the survivor of persons having joint interests in property to take the interest of the person who has died

2

: the state of being a survivor : survival

3

: the probability of surviving to a particular age

also : the number or proportion of survivors (as of an age group or population)

Examples of survivorship in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Property is treated as a covered bequest when acquired by reason of a covered expatriate's death including property rights passing under a right of survivorship, annuity payments, property subject to a general power of appointment, and life insurance proceeds. —Virginia La Torre Jeker, J.d., Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025

Current approaches to drug development, including those using AI, may have fallen into a survivorship bias trap, overly focusing on less critical aspects of the process while overlooking major problems that contribute most to failure. —Christian MacEdonia, The Conversation, 3 Jan. 2025

Aside from those outside services, family engagement and support can have huge bearing on how children fare through treatment and survivorship, says Dr. Saro Armenian, director of the Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Survivorship Program at City of Hope Children's Cancer Center in Los Angeles. —Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024

Please share your cancer survivorship story using the form below. —NPR, 8 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

survivorship

noun

sur·​vi·​vor·​ship -ˈvī-vər-ˌship 

1

: the state of being a survivor

quality of life in long-term survivorship (five years or longer) of patients who have experienced breast cancer

2

: the probability of surviving to a particular age

also : the number or proportion of survivors (as of an age group)

Legal Definition

survivorship

noun

sur·​vi·​vor·​ship

1

: the right of one or more joint tenants who have survived another to take the interest of the person who has died

2

: the state of being a survivor