LÍF

noun [ neuter ]

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Grammar

LÍF, es; n.

Wright's OE grammar

§5; §126; §276; §294;

LIFE [the opposite of death], mode of life, period during which a man lives

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Hwæt is ðæt líf elles ðysses middangeardes búton lytelu ylding deáþes,
- Blickl. Homl. 59, 27
Twá líf sind sóðlíce ... ðæt in líf is deádlíc, ðæt óðer undeádlíc,
- Homl. Th. i. 224, 14-16
Ðis andwarde líf manna on eorþan,
- Bd. 2, 13
- S. 516, 14
Lífes treów

lignum vitæ,
- Gen. 2, 9
Lífes wæter

aqua viva,
- Jn. Skt. 4, 10
Lífes weg,
- Blickl. Homl. 17, 19
Lífes bæþ,
- Bd. 2, 5
- S. 507, 18
For heora lífes geearnunge geþungon ðæt hí wǽron abbudissan

on account of the merit of their lives succeeded in becoming abbesses;

præ merito virtutum,
- 3, 8
- S. 531, 23
Seó þearlwísnes ðæs heardan lífes

districtio vitæ arctioris,
- 4, 25
- S. 599, 32
Reogollíces lífes þeódscipe,
- 3, 22
- S. 553, 10
On ðære béc Cúþberhtes lífes,
- 4, 30
- S. 609, 32
Ealle hig wǽron háliges lífes menn,
- Wulfst. 270, 15
Hé geendode his dagas æfter mycclum geswince his lífes,
- Chr. 1016
- Erl. 155, 3
On ðam ýtemestan dæge his lífes,
- Bd. 3, 17
- S. 543, 19, col. 1
Lífes

alive:--

Ætýwde ðæt hé lífes wæs

quia viveret demonstrans,
- 5, 19
- S. 640, 24
Geáxtan hwæðer hé lífes wǽre,
- Homl. Th. ii. 186, 1
- L. Eth. ii. 9
- Th. i. 290, 14
- Chart. Th. 471, 34
- Cod. Dipl. Kmbl. i. 234, 28. 32
Ðǽr belifon swáðeáh lífes on ðam mynstre feówer and twentig muneca,
- Homl. Skt. 6, 351
Gif hé biþ vi nihta eald and hine ádl gestaudeþ se biþ lífes

[he will survive],
- Lchdm. iii. 182, 12
[
Icel. lífes alive.
]

Sume hit ne gedýgdan mid ðam lífe

some did not get off with their lives,
- Chr. 978
- Erl. 127, 13
Heó of deáþe férde tó lífe

she went from death unto life,
- Bd. 4, 23
- S. 595, 32
Hé forþférde of ðyssum lífe and férde tó ðam sóðan lífe,
- 2, 1
- S. 500, 13
On ðís lífe,
- Dóm. L. 32, 80
Hé nǽre ná man geþuht, gif hé mannes lífe ne lyfode,
- Homl. Th. i. 150, 8
- Blickl. 167, 33
Se hálga Augustinus be his hálan líue hine hádode tó biscope

[while alive and in health],
- Chr. 616
- Erl. 22, 27
Ðearfendum lífe wunedon

pauperem vitam agebant,
- Bd. 1, 15
- S. 484, 8
Be muneca lífe

de vita monachorum,
- 2, 4
- S. 505, 33
On munuclícum lífe geseted,
- 4, 27
- S. 603, 24
- 5, 1
- S. 613, 6
Seó bóc þe is áwriten be his lífe,
- 3, 19
- S. 547, 32
Seó freólsbóc ealra ðare landa ðe in tó ðæm mynechina lífe

[nunnery, v. munuc-líf]

æt Wiltúne forgifene sint,
- Cod. Dip. Kmbl. iii. 117, 25.
On, tó lífe

[Icel. á lifr alive]

alive, living:--

Ðá hé on lífe wæs

adhuc vivens,
- Mt. Kmbl. 27, 63
Hé wæs on lífe eorþlíc cing, hé is nú æfter deáþe heofonlíc sanct,
- Chr. 979
- Erl. 129, 9
Ða hwíle ðe hig on lífe beón

quamdiu in vivis erunt,
- L. Ecg. P. ii. 19
- Th. ii. 188, 28
Hwí hig heóldon ða wífmenn tó lífe

why they kept the women alive,
- Num. 31; 15
Hé lǽfde uneáðe ǽnne tó lífe,
- Wulfst. 106, 8
Se deáþ cýmeþ ðæt hé ðæt líf áfyrre,
- Bt. 8
- Fox 26, 7
Sylle líf wið lífe

reddat animam pro anima,
- Ex. 21, 23
Ðeáh hé líf hæfde

if he had been alive,
- L. C. S. 73
- Th. i. 416, 1
Wé ús nyton witod líf æt ǽfen,
- Wulfst. 151, 17.
Líf and land werian,
- 274, 17
Preóstas and nunnan heora líf rehtan

let priests and nuns order their lives,
- 269, 15
Liif,
- Bd. 3, 18
- S. 545. 42, col. 2
Nis mé tíd mín líf tó onwendenne

there is no time for me to change my life,
- 5, 14
- S. 634, 32
- Past. 17, 4
- Swt. 111, 23
Seó Cúþburh ðæt lýf [monastery] æt Winburnan árǽrde,
- Chr. 718
- Erl. 45, 19

Etymology

[

O. Sax. O. Frs. Icel. líf

O. H. Ger. líp vita, conversatio, habitus.

In Icelandic the word has also the meanings body [e.g. líf ok sála] person, and the latter use is found in Piers. P. e.g. no lyf elles.

In O. H. Ger., v. Grff. ii. 44, it is seldom, if ever, used with the meaning of the modern leib.

]

Derived forms

ancor-, edwít-, ende-, feorh-, munuc-, mynster-, regol-, sundor-, woruld-líf

Entry information

Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “LÍF.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/21603.

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LÍF

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