life (English)

Where does "life" come from?

The English noun 'life' descends through Middle English 'lyf'[1] and Old English 'līf'[1] from Proto-West Germanic '*līb'[1], which itself developed from Proto-Germanic '*lībą' meaning 'life, body'[1]. This Germanic term traces further back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*leyp-' meaning 'to stick, glue'[1], via an intermediate verb meaning 'to remain, stay, be left'[1]. Additionally, the specific sense of 'biography' arose as a semantic loan from Medieval Latin 'vīta'[1].

Open questions

• The derivation of the Proto-Germanic verb from the Indo-European root involving stickiness shows an unexpected sound change, and a derivation from a root meaning to leave is considered less likely. [9]

Full etymology tree

• life (English), '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.'
  • inherited lyf (Middle English), 'life'
    • inherited lif (Old English), 'life'
      • inherited *līb (Proto-West Germanic), 'body'
        • inherited *lībą (Proto-Germanic), 'body'
          • derived *lībaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to remain, to be left'
            • derived *leyp- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to stick'
              • derived *ley-, *(s)ley- (Proto-Indo-European)
  • influenced by vita (Latin), 'life'

Ancestors

• *leyp- (Proto-Indo-European)
• lyf (Middle English)
• lif (Old English)
• *līb (Proto-West Germanic)
• *lībą (Proto-Germanic)
• vita (Latin)

Cognates and doublets

• laip (Cimbrian)
• lijf (Dutch)
• lív (Faroese)
• Leib (German)
• líf (Icelandic)
• Lief (Low German)
• Leif (Luxembourgish)
• Lieuw (Saterland Frisian)
• liv (Swedish)
• łaowa (Vilamovian)
• liif (West Frisian)
• לײַב (Yiddish)

Descendants and derived words

• 10-20-Life (English)
• about that life (English)
• after-life (English)
• afterlife (English)
• a-life (English)
• A-life (English)
• A-lifer (English)
• all one's life is worth (English)
• all one's life's worth (English)
• all that one's life is worth (English)
• anti-life (English)
• antilife (English)

Sources

1. life (English) - Wiktionary
2. vita (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. lyf (Middle English) - Wiktionary
4. lif (Old English) - Wiktionary
5. lībą (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
6. leyp- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
7. līb (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
8. gʷītā (Proto-Italic) - Wiktionary
9. lībaną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris