Meanings
-
1
noun
The state of being alive.
The doctors fought to save the patient's life.
-
2
noun
The way a person lives, or their experiences over time.
She has had a happy life with her family.
-
3
noun
The period of time during which a person is alive.
He lived in the same town his whole life.
-
4
noun
Living things in general.
The oceans are full of life.
-
5
noun
The length of time something works or lasts.
The battery had a short life and soon needed replacing.
Thesaurus
Common collocations
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”), Saterland Frisian Lieuw (“body”), West Frisian liif (“body”), Cimbrian laip (“body”), Dutch lijf (“body”) and leven (“life”), German Leib (“body; womb”) and Leben (“life”), Low German Lief (“body; life”), Luxembourgish Leif, Läif (“body”), Vilamovian łaowa (“life”), Yiddish לײַב (layb, “body”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and S…