lifetime

See also: life-time

English

Etymology

From Middle English lyftyme, equivalent to life +‎ time. Cognate with Icelandic líftími (“lifetime”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Lieuwendstied, Dutch leeftijd and levenstijd, German Low German Levenstied, German Lebenszeit, Danish livstid, Swedish livstid.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪftaɪm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

lifetime (plural lifetimes)

1. The duration of the life of someone or something.

   Synonym: lifespan

   a project that will take many human lifetimes to complete

   the operational lifetime of an aircraft component

   comes with a lifetime warranty

2. (informal, hyperbolic) A long period of time.

   I've been waiting a lifetime for a train.

   Synonyms: ages, (UK slang) donkey's years, eternity, (UK slang) years, yonks

Hypernyms

• time

Derived terms

• all in a lifetime, all in one's lifetime
• carrier lifetime
• chemical lifetime
• customer lifetime value
• fluorescence lifetime imaging
• give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
• legend in one's own lifetime
• lifetime achievement award
• lifetime average daily dose
• lifetime cap
• lifetime employment
• lifetime exposure
• lifetime income tax
• lifetime job
• lifetime learning credit
• lifetime maximum benefit amount
• lifetime mobility
• lifetime mortgage
• lifetime payment cap
• lifetime policy
• life-timer
• lifetime rate cap
• lifetime reserve days
• lifetime reverse mortgage
• lifetime risk
• lifetime value
• lifetime warranty
• maximum segment lifetime
• mean lifetime
• minority carrier lifetime
• object lifetime
• of a lifetime
• once-in-a-lifetime
• segment lifetime

 

Related terms

• time of life
• time of one's life

 

Translations

duration of the life of someone or something

• Azerbaijani: ömür (az)
• Bashkir: ғүмер (ğümer)
• Catalan: vida (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一生 (zh) (yīshēng), 一輩子 / 一辈子 (zh) (yībèizi), 壽命 / 寿命 (zh) (shòumìng), 畢生 / 毕生 (zh) (bìshēng), 輩子 / 辈子 (zh) (bèizi)

• Czech: doba života f, životnost (cs)
• Dutch: leeftijd (nl) m
• Egyptian: (ꜥḥꜥw m)
• Esperanto: vivodaŭro, vivdaŭro
• Finnish: elinikä (fi), elinaika (fi), elämän aika
• French: durée de vie (fr) f (objects), vie (fr) f (persons)
• Georgian: სიცოცხლის ხანგრძლივობა (sicocxlis xangrʒlivoba), სიცოცხლის დრო (sicocxlis dro), მთელი სიცოცხლე (mteli sicocxle), მთელი ცხოვრება (mteli cxovreba)
• German: Leben (de) n, Lebensdauer (de) f, Lebenszeit (de) f
• Greek: βίος (el) m (víos)
• Hindi: ज़िंदगी (hi) f (zindgī), जिंदगी (hi) f (jindgī), उमर (hi) f (umar), लाइफ (hi) m (lāiph)
• Hungarian: élettartam (hu)
• Indonesian: seumur hidup (id)
• Italian: durata (it) f, vita utile
• Japanese: 生涯 (ja) (しょうがい, shōgai), 一生 (ja) (いっしょう, isshō), 一生涯 (ja) (いっしょうがい, isshōgai)
• Kapampangan: kabambie
• Latin: aetas (la) f
• Malay: sepanjang hayat, semasa hayat, seumur hidup
• Navajo: są́ náʼoogą́ą́ʼ (of a person; traditionally about 104 years)
• Plautdietsch: Läwenstiet f
• Polish: życie (pl) n
• Portuguese: vida (pt) f
• Romanian: durată de viață
• Russian: продолжи́тельность жи́зни f (prodolžítelʹnostʹ žízni), це́лая жизнь f (célaja žiznʹ), вся жизнь f (vsja žiznʹ), вре́мя жи́зни n (vrémja žízni) (of an object, function, etc.), срок слу́жбы m (srok slúžby) (equipment)
• Spanish: vida (es) f
• Swedish: livstid (sv) c
• Turkish: ömür (tr), yaşam (tr)
• Ukrainian: вік (uk) (vik)

informal, hyperbolic: a long period of time

• Catalan: eternitat (ca) f
• Finnish: ikuisuus (fi)
• French: éternité (fr) f, cent sept ans (fr) m pl
• German: Ewigkeit (de) f
• Hungarian: örökkévalóság (hu)
• Italian: una vita (it) f, un'eternità (it) f
• Portuguese: vida (pt) f
• Romanian: eternitate (ro)
• Russian: це́лая ве́чность (ru) f (célaja véčnostʹ)
• Spanish: eternidad (es) f, toda la vida f
• Swedish: evighet (sv) c

See also

• three score and ten