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Life

//laɪf// intj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Intj

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

Proper Noun

1
God.
"Then one deep love doth supersede ⁠All other, when her ardent gaze ⁠Roves from the living brother’s face, And rests upon the Life indeed."
2
A surname.
3
Conway's Game of Life.
"Basically, I'm looking for a fast (the fastest?) way of updating grids, where each cell has to look at an arbitrary number of its neighbors. I've seen some fast life-programs, but often they took advantage of particular quirks of the rules of Life."

Noun

1
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. uncountable, usually
"I want my kids to live a good life. He gave up on life."
2
living things collectively wordnet
3
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.; 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. uncountable, usually
4
animation and energy in action or expression wordnet
5
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. uncountable, usually
"The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience."

Show 35 more definitions

6
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities wordnet
7
Lifeforms, generally or collectively. uncountable, usually
"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."
8
an account of the series of events making up a person's life wordnet
9
A living being; the fact of a particular individual being alive. (Chiefly when indicating individuals were lost (died) or saved.) countable, usually
"Many lives were lost during the war. Her quick thinking saved many dogs' lives."
10
a motive for living wordnet
11
Existence. uncountable, usually
"Life is meaningless and we are all going to die."
12
a living person wordnet
13
Existence.; A worthwhile existence. uncountable, usually
"He gets up early in the morning, works all day long — even on weekends — and hardly sees his family. That's no life! His life was ruined by drugs."
14
the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones wordnet
15
Existence.; A particular aspect of existence. uncountable, usually
"He struggled to balance his family life, social life and work life."
16
the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living wordnet
17
Existence.; Social life. informal, uncountable, usually
"Get a life."
18
the condition of living or the state of being alive wordnet
19
Existence.; Something which is inherently part of a person's existence, such as job, family, a loved one, etc. uncountable, usually
"She's my love, my life. Running the bakery is her life."
20
a characteristic state or mode of living wordnet
21
A period of time during which something has existence.; The period during which one (a person, an animal, a plant; a civilization, species; a star; etc) is alive. uncountable, usually
"“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”"
22
the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death) wordnet
23
A period of time during which something has existence.; The span of time during which an object operates. uncountable, usually
"Even if the bill's life is brief, the member who introduced it can still campaign as its champion."
24
the period between birth and the present time wordnet
25
A period of time during which something has existence.; The period of time during which an object is recognizable. uncountable, usually
"The life of this milk carton may be thousands of years in this landfill."
26
the period from the present until death wordnet
27
A period of time during which something has existence.; A particular phase or period of existence. uncountable, usually
"This would require that reproductive cells do not exist early on but rather are produced during the organism's adult life from the gemules sent from the various organs."
28
a prison term lasting as long as the prisoner lives wordnet
29
A period of time during which something has existence.; 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). uncountable, usually
"Typically, an appointed judge is appointed for life."
30
A period of time during which something has existence.; 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).; A life sentence; a period of imprisonment that lasts until the convict's death (or, sometimes, parole). colloquial, uncountable, usually
31
Animation; spirit; vivacity. uncountable, usually
"No notion of life and fire in fancy and in words."
32
Animation; spirit; vivacity.; The most lively component or participant. uncountable, usually
""Don't I know that it is you who is the life of this house. Two delightful children!""
33
A biography. uncountable, usually
"His life of the founder is finished, except for the title."
34
Nature, reality, and the forms that exist in it. uncountable, usually
"The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator."
35
An opportunity for existence. uncountable, usually
"The photo book represented my promise to her—a new life—and she desperately clung to that promise."
36
An opportunity for existence.; One of the player's chances to play, lost when the player's character dies or when certain mistakes are made. uncountable, usually
"Scoring 1000 points is rewarded with an extra life."
37
An opportunity for existence.; A chance for the batter (or batting team) to bat again, given as a result of a misplay by a member of the fielding team. uncountable, usually
"Borda sent a hot liner to G. Kugler, who made a nifty pick-up, but threw wild at first, giving the batter a life."
38
An opportunity for existence.; 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. uncountable, usually
39
The life insurance industry. uncountable, usually
"I work in life."
40
A life assured under a life assurance policy (equivalent to the policy itself for a single life contract). countable, usually
"He renewed two lives which had dropped."

Verb

1
To replace components whose operational lifetime has expired.
"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; […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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 Swedish liv (“life; waist”), Faroese lív (“life”), Icelandic líf (“life”). Related to belive. The sense "biography" is likely a semantic loan from Medieval Latin vīta (“biography; hagiography”).

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

Variant of Leaf.

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