Life refers to 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. It commonly describes 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, lifeforms, generally or collectively, and a living individual; the fact of a particular individual being alive. (Chiefly when indicating individuals were lost (died) or saved.), which gives the term a broader and more practical sense than a single short definition would suggest. Depending on context, it can also point to existence, a period of time during which something has existence, and animation; spirit; vivacity, so the category can cover literal uses, related ideas, and more figurative extensions of the same core meaning. Taken together, these meanings present Life as a flexible theme rather than a narrowly technical label, covering the central idea people usually mean when they use the word while still leaving room for closely related senses that appear in real language. Additional shades of meaning include a biography, nature, reality, and the forms that exist in it, an opportunity for existence, the life insurance industry, and a life assured under a life assurance policy (equivalent to the policy itself for a single life contract), which reinforce how the category can stretch across adjacent but still recognizable uses of the same term.
