# life

Pronunciation: say "LYF" /laɪf/

## Noun

1. Existence as a living being, especially human existence in general, including the experiences and activities that make it up.
   - Simple: Being alive, and all the things people do and experience while they are alive.
   - _Many religions offer their own account of the origin and meaning of life._
   - _The novel explores whether life has any purpose at all._
2. The period during which a person, animal, or plant is alive, including the rest of someone's lifetime, as in an office held for life.
   - Simple: The time someone or something is alive, or the rest of the time someone will be alive.
   - _He devoted his life to teaching children in rural villages._
   - _A mayfly's entire life may last only a single day._
3. A particular area or period of a person's existence, such as their private, working, or married life.
   - Simple: One part or time of a person's life, like their home life or working life.
   - _The famous chef has always refused to discuss his love life in interviews._
   - _Throughout their married life, they kept up the tradition of a long walk every Sunday._
4. The condition of being alive, marked by processes such as growth, metabolism, and reproduction that set living things apart from nonliving matter.
   - Simple: The state of being alive, which plants, animals, and people have and things like rocks do not.
   - _Doctors worked through the night to sustain the patient's life._
   - _Researchers debate what conditions are needed for life to arise._
5. An individual living being, counted especially when people are killed or rescued.
   - Simple: A person or animal that is alive, often counted among those lost or saved in a disaster.
   - _Thanks to the quick work of the rescue crews, not a single life was lost._
   - _The flood claimed dozens of lives in a single night._
6. The length of time that a thing continues to work, last, or remain usable.
   - Simple: How long a thing keeps working or lasts.
   - _Engineers tested how heat shortened the engine's life._
   - _The roof has a life of roughly twenty years before it needs replacing._
7. Living things considered generally or as a collective whole.
   - Simple: All living things, taken together as a group.
   - _Scientists study how life adapts to the crushing pressure of the deep sea._
   - _The rainforest teems with life of every kind._
8. Something that forms an essential part of a person's existence, such as their work, family, or a loved one.
   - Simple: The people and things that matter most to someone, like family, work, or love.
   - _After they married, she became his whole life._
   - _For many farmers, the land is their life._
9. Energy, liveliness, and spirit in a person or thing, or the force that keeps something active and relevant.
   - Simple: Energy and liveliness that make a person or thing seem active and interesting.
   - _The dancer performed with such life that the audience couldn't look away._
   - _Fresh paint and flowers brought life back into the old house._
12. The manner of living characteristic of a given place, group or setting, together with its ordinary conditions and routines.
   - Simple: The usual way of living in a certain place or group, and what it is like there.
   - _Army life suited him well: the routine, the early mornings and the close friendships._
   - _Most freshmen need a semester or so to get used to campus life._
13. The most lively or animating member of a group or gathering.
   - Simple: The person or thing that brings the most fun and energy to a group.
   - _He was the life of the celebration, keeping everyone laughing until dawn._
   - _Her cousin is the life of every wedding she attends._
10. Nature and reality together with the forms that exist within them, taken as something observed directly.
   - Simple: The real world and real things, used as a model for art.
   - _Students in the studio sketched the model directly from life._
   - _In her art class, students draw from life rather than copying photographs._
14. A full and interesting existence, especially the social activities and relationships a person has outside work or duty.
   - Simple: An interesting, enjoyable way of living, especially time spent with friends outside work.
   - _Locked in that tiny cage all day, the clever parrot didn't have much of a life._
   - _Between night shifts and overtime, she barely had a life outside the hospital._
15. A sentence of imprisonment lasting until the convict's death or, in some cases, release on parole. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A prison punishment that keeps someone locked up until they die or are set free much later.
   - _After the verdict, he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole._
   - _The jury's decision meant life behind bars for the defendant._
11. A written account of a person's career and character; a biography.
   - Simple: A book or story that tells about a real person's whole life.
   - _Boswell's life of Johnson remains one of the most admired biographies in English._
   - _She is gathering material for a new life of the painter._
16. In a game, one of a player's chances to keep playing, lost by a mistake, or an extra chance given by an opponent's error.
   - Simple: In a game, one of your chances to keep playing before you are out.
   - _He guarded his last life carefully through the final boss fight._
   - _In this old arcade game, you win an extra life every time you score 10,000 points._
17. In religious teaching, a continued existence after death, such as in heaven or a world to come.
   - Simple: In some religions, a way of existing that goes on after a person dies, for example in heaven.
   - _At the funeral, the priest reminded the family of the promise of eternal life._
   - _Tombs were stocked with food and tools for the dead to use in the life to come._

## Interjection

18. An exclamation of surprise or emphasis, used as a mild oath; equivalent to "God's life". *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old cry of surprise or annoyance, used like a mild oath.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In insurance, life insurance as a branch of the business, or a person covered by a life policy.
- (verb) In aviation engineering, to set or assess the safe service life of a part, after which it must be replaced.

## Origin

From Middle English "lyf," from Old English "lif," from Proto-Germanic *liba ("life, body"), which came from a root meaning "to remain, stay, be left," and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- ("to stick, glue"). It is related to words like German "Leib" ("body") and "Leben" ("life"), Dutch "lijf" ("body"), and the Scandinavian "liv." The "biography" sense is likely a semantic loan from Medieval Latin "vita."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/life (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).