English word life comes from Proto-Indo-European *ley-, and later Proto-Germanic *lībaną (To remain, to be left.)
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| *ley- | Proto-Indo-European (ine) | to be slippery, glide, streak, to avoid, elude, decline, shrink away from, recede, to elude, avoid, shrink from |
| *leyp- | Proto-Indo-European (ine) | |
| *lībaną | Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) | To remain, to be left. |
| *lībą | Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) | Body. Life. |
| līf | Old English (ang) | |
| lif | Old English (ang) | Life. |
| lyf | Middle English (enm) | Life. |
| life | English (en) | (biology) A 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.. (colloquial) A life sentence; a term of imprisonment of a convict until his or her death.. (countable) The fact of a particular individual being alive; a living individual.. (informal) Social life.. [...] |