Wild life or wildlife?
wild life is a noun meaning “the words wild and life, each in its own sense”; wildlife is a noun meaning “undomesticated animals, especially mammals, birds, and fish, which live in the…”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. wild life is written as two words and wildlife as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between wild life and wildlife?
| wild life | wildlife | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | Dated spelling of wildlife Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wild, life | undomesticated animals, especially mammals, birds, and fish, which live in the wild Living undomesticated organisms of all kinds |
| Example | none recorded | This town offers wildlife tours where you can go and watch the bears, deer, wild rabbits and other creatures in their natural habitats |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈwaɪldlaɪf/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 21 times per million words |
Sources: wild life and wildlife in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of wild life and wildlife
wild life
- 1
Dated spelling of wildlife
- 2
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wild, life
wildlife
- 1
undomesticated animals, especially mammals, birds, and fish, which live in the wild
This town offers wildlife tours where you can go and watch the bears, deer, wild rabbits and other creatures in their natural habitats
- 2
Living undomesticated organisms of all kinds
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, wild life or wildlife?
wild life is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; wildlife 21 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).