life

/laɪf/

//laɪf// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"life" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“life” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #134 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#134
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 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 ...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

life vs lit
50% similar
life vs lip
50% similar
life vs lil
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for life
PropertyValue
Headwordlife
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/laɪf/
Letters4
Frequency rank#134
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “life” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). life lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for life is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /laɪf/. Corpus data places it at rank #134 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 26 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for life, with forms such as "ilfe", "lfie", and "lief". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lit", "lip", "lil", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”), Sa… The correct English form is life, spelled L-I-F-E.

Definition

  1. 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.
  2. 2
    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.
  3. 3
    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.
  4. 4
    Lifeforms, generally or collectively.
  5. 5
    A living being; the fact of a particular individual being alive. (Chiefly when indicating individuals were lost (died) or saved.)
  6. 6
    Existence.
  7. 7
    Existence.
  8. 8
    Existence.
  9. 9
    Existence.
  10. 10
    Existence.
  11. 11
    A period of time during which something has existence.
  12. 12
    A period of time during which something has existence.
  13. 13
    A period of time during which something has existence.
  14. 14
    A period of time during which something has existence.
  15. 15
    A period of time during which something has existence.
  16. 16
    A period of time during which something has existence.
  17. 17
    Animation; spirit; vivacity.
  18. 18
    Animation; spirit; vivacity.
  19. 19
    A biography.
  20. 20
    Nature, reality, and the forms that exist in it.
  21. 21
    An opportunity for existence.
  22. 22
    An opportunity for existence.
  23. 23
    An opportunity for existence.
  24. 24
    An opportunity for existence.
  25. 25
    The life insurance industry.
  26. 26
    A life assured under a life assurance policy (equivalent to the policy itself for a single life contract).

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 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”).

Synonyms

existenceexperiencethe world in general

Antonyms

deathcomavoid

This word in other languages

vida(Español)vie(Français)Leben(Deutsch)vida(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ilfe,lfie,lief,liffe,llife

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of life - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ilfe2lfie2lief2liffe1llife1
Edit distance from "life"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "life"?
"life" is spelled L-I-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is /laɪf/.
What does "life" mean?
As a noun, "life" means: 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 ...
What words are commonly confused with "life"?
"life" is commonly confused with "lit", "lip", "lil". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "life"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "life" is /laɪf/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "life"?
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 (“... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “life”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-I-F-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /laɪf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “lit” - see the side-by-side comparison. life vs lit
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list