Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell life

Life is spelled L-I-F-E.

hear itlife/laɪf/nounSounds

What it means: The condition of being alive.

In a sentence: A caterpillar's life begins on a green leaf.

Same family: live, alive, lively, lifetime, lifeless. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Life comes from Old English "līf," meaning "existence" or "living," and is related to words in German ("Leib") and Dutch ("lijf"). Over time it has kept its core meaning but expanded into many phrases like "real-life," "half-life," and "lifespan."

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