life

pronunciation

How to pronounce life in British English: UK [laɪf] word uk audio image

How to pronounce life in American English: US [laɪf] word us audio image

Noun:

a characteristic state or mode of living
the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living
the experience of living; the course of human events and activities
the condition of living or the state of being alive
the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death)
the period between birth and the present time
animation and energy in action or expression
an account of the series of events making up a person's life
the period from the present until death
a living person
living things collectively
a motive for living
the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones
a prison term lasting as long as the prisoner lives

Word Origin

life: life: [OE] Prehistoric Germanic *līb- denoted ‘remain, be left’. From this was formed the noun *lībam, which in due course produced English life (the semantic connection between ‘remaining’ and life – and the closely related live – is thought to lie in the notion of being ‘left alive after a battle’). Of the noun’s Germanic relatives, Swedish and Danish liv still mean ‘life’, but German leib and Dutch liff have moved on semantically to ‘body’. English alive is a derivative of life, not of the verb live.=> live

life (n.): Old English life (dative lif) "existence, lifetime, way of life, condition of being a living thing, opposite of death," from Proto-Germanic *libam (cognates: Old Norse lif "life, body," Dutch lijf "body," Old High German lib "life," German Leib "body"), properly "continuance, perseverance," from PIE *leip- "to remain, persevere, continue; stick, adhere" (see leave (v.)). Much of the modern range of meanings was present in Old English. Meaning "property which distinguishes living from non-living matter" is from 1560s. Sense of "vitality, energy" is from 1580s. Extended 1703 to "term of duration (of inanimate objects)." Life-jacket is from 1840; life-preserver from 1630s of anything that is meant to save a life, 1803 of devices worn to prevent drowning. Life-saver is from 1883, figurative use from 1909, as a brand of hard sugar candy, from 1912, so called for shape. Life-form is from 1861. Life cycle is from 1855.