early 15c., "of a bluish-leaden color," from Middle French livide and directly from Latin lividus "of a bluish color, black and blue," figuratively "envious, spiteful, malicious," from livere "be bluish," earlier *slivere, from PIE *sliwo-, suffixed form of root *(s)leie- "bluish" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic and Russian sliva "plum;" Lithuanian slywas "plum;" Old Irish li, Welsh lliw "color, splendor," Old English sla "sloe"). The sense of "furiously angry" (1912) is from the notion of being livid with rage.