life

English Online Dictionary. What means life‎? What does life mean?

English

Alternative forms

• lyfe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English lyf, from Old English līf, from Proto-West Germanic *līb, from Proto-Germanic *lībą (“life, body”), from *lībaną (“to remain, stay, be left”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick, glue”). Cognate with Scots life, leif (“life”), North Frisian liff (“life, limb, person, livelihood”), West Frisian liif (“belly, abdomen”), Dutch lijf (“body”), Low German lif (“body; life, life-force; waist”), German Leib (“body; womb”) and Leben (“life”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish liv (“life; waist”), Icelandic líf (“life”). Related to belive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laɪf/, enPR: līf
• (MLE, Jamaica) IPA^(key): /læ̙ːf/
• Hyphenation: life
• Rhymes: -aɪf

Noun

life (usually uncountable, plural lives)

1. (uncountable) The state of organisms preceding their death, characterized by biological processes such as metabolism and reproduction and distinguishing them from inanimate objects; the state of being alive and living.
   1. (biology) The status possessed by any of a number of entities, including animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and sometimes viruses, which have the properties of replication and metabolism.
2. The animating principle or force that keeps an inorganic thing or concept metaphorically alive (dynamic, relevant, etc) and makes it a "living document", "living constitution", etc.
3. Lifeforms, generally or collectively.

   It's life, but not as we know it.   She discovered plant life on the planet.   The rover discovered signs of life on the alien world.

4. (countable) A living individual; the fact of a particular individual being alive. (Chiefly when indicating individuals were lost (died) or saved.)
5. Existence.

   Man's life on this planet has been marked by continual conflict.   the eternal life of the soul

   1. A worthwhile existence.

   2. A particular aspect of existence.

      He struggled to balance his family life, social life and work life.   sex life, political life

   3. (informal) Social life.
   4. Something which is inherently part of a person's existence, such as job, family, a loved one, etc.

      She's my love, my life.   Running the bakery is her life.

6. A period of time during which something has existence.
   1. The period during which one (a person, an animal, a plant; a civilization, species; a star; etc) is alive.
      • 1936 Feb., F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up", Esquire:

        Life was something you dominated if you were any good. Life yielded easily to intelligence and effort, or to what proportion could be mustered of both.
   2. The span of time during which an object operates.

   3. The period of time during which an object is recognizable.

   4. A particular phase or period of existence.
   5. A period extending from a when a (positive or negative) office, punishment, etc is conferred on someone until that person dies (or, sometimes, reaches retirement age).
      1. (colloquial) A life sentence; a period of imprisonment that lasts until the convict's death (or, sometimes, parole).
7. Animation; spirit; vivacity.
   1. The most lively component or participant.
      • 1970, Mathuram Bhoothalingam, The finger on the lute: the story of Mahakavi Subramania Bharati, National Council of Educational Research and Training, p.87:

        "Don't I know that it is you who is the life of this house. Two delightful children!"
8. A biography.
9. Nature, reality, and the forms that exist in it.
10. An opportunity for existence.
    1. (video games) One of the player's chances to play, lost when the player's character dies or when certain mistakes are made.
       • 1988, David Powell, Rygar (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 25

         Spend the time killing things and there's a bonus for each hit - but only for fatalities notched up since the start of your current life.

    2. (baseball, softball, cricket) A chance for the batter (or batting team) to bat again, given as a result of an misplay by a member of the fielding team. [from 1860s–1930s or later]
       • 1915 June 24, Philadelphians on the Diamond, in The New York Lumber Trade Journal, volume 59, oage 42:

         Borda sent a hot liner to G. Kugler, who made a nifty pick-up, but threw wild at first, giving the batter a life.
    3. One of a player's chances to play in various children's playground games, lost when a mistake is made, for example being struck by the ball in dodgeball.
11. (uncountable, insurance) The life insurance industry.

12. (countable) A life assured under a life assurance policy (equivalent to the policy itself for a single life contract).

Synonyms

• (philosophy, essence of manifestation and foundation of being): existence, experience
• (the world in general): time

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “the state that precedes death”): death
• (antonym(s) of “biology”): coma
• (antonym(s) of “philosophy”): void

Coordinate terms

• (insurance industry): general, health, pensions

Derived terms

Related terms

• alive
• live
• lively

Translations

Verb

life (third-person singular simple present lifes, present participle lifing, simple past and past participle lifed)

1. (aviation) To replace components whose operational lifetime has expired.
   • Ignacio Fernandez, ACCENT: Adaptive Control of Manufacturing Processes for a New Generation of Jet Engine Components, in 2012, D. Knörzer, J. Szodruch, Innovation for Sustainable Aviation in a Global Environment (page 302)

     Now, the aim of the design is to extract more cycles from the component under study, at each new engine generation requirements are driving a reduction in the margin for the error, as parts cannot stand any drop in properties. Thus, the lifing procedures are refined by means of new models or additional specific testing for limiting features to increase the life of the components; […]

Interjection

life

1. (obsolete) Synonym of God's life (an oath)

References

• “life”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• life in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “life”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “life”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Further reading

• life on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Biological life on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Phenomenological life on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• File, flie, filé, elif, lief, Fiel, file

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English life.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lif/, /lajf/

Noun

life m (plural lifes)

1. (slang) life

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliː.fe/, [ˈliː.ve]

Noun

līfe

1. dative singular of līf

Yola

Noun

life

1. Alternative form of lief

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 104