meaning of life en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Meanings
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A hypothetical answer to all of life's ultimate questions; the purpose or raison d'être of human life.
But he was no nearer to the meaning of life than he had been before. Why the world was there and what men had come into existence for at all was as inexplicable as ever.
1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 274:I asked myself if this were the meaning of life—to be a work-beast? I knew of no horse in the city of Oakland that worked the hours I worked.
1913 August, Jack London, chapter VII, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 63:The meaning of life here on earth might be defined as consisting in this: To unfold your self, to work what thing you have the faculty for. It is a necessity for the human being, the first law of our existence.
1840 May 22, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture VI. The Hero as King. Cromwell, Napoleon: Modern Revolutionism.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 207:
Translations (36)
cu съмыслъ живота (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · sh смисао живота (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · mk смисла на животот (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · cs smysl života (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · nl zin van het leven (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · pt sentido da vida (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · ka სიცოცხლის აზრი (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · cmn 人生的真諦 /人生的真谛 (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · ko 인생의 의미 (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · sv meningen med livet (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · fo meiningin við lívinum (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · cmn 生命的真理 (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · ar مَعْنَى اَلْحَيَاة (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · ja 人生の意味 (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · cmn 生命的意義 /生命的意义 (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · sk zmysel života (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · zlw-ocs smysl života (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · fr sens de la vie (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · it il senso della vita (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · da meningen med livet (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · tr hayatın anlamı (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · es sentido de la vida (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · tr yaşamın anlamı (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · fi elämän tarkoitus (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · ru смысл жи́зни (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · cmn 生命的價值 /生命的价值 (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · sv livets mening (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · no livets mening (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · ja 人生の意義 (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · no meningen med livet (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · hu az élet értelme (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · de Sinn des Lebens (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · pl sens życia (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · is tilgangur lífsins (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · sh smisao života (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions) · cu ⱄⱏⰿⱏⰹⱄⰾⱏ ⰶⰻⰲⱁⱅⰰ (hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions)