means the condition that distinguishes living organisms from dead matter or inanimate objects, marked by growth, reproduction, and response to the world — and, by extension, the span of one's existence.

from From Old English līf, tracing back to Proto-Germanic *leiban and an older Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to stick, cling, remain' — the same stubborn root that gives us 'live' and is possibly a cousin of 'leave' (to remain behind). Fittingly, the word's deepest sense isn't 'to thrive' but simply 'to persist, to keep going' — a relay baton clung to and passed on.