Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

life history

American  

noun

Biology.
  1. the series of living phenomena exhibited by an organism in the course of its development from inception to death.

  2. life cycle.


life history British  

noun

  1. the series of changes undergone by an organism between fertilization of the egg and death

  2. the series of events that make up a person's life

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of life history

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The birds are ringed and tagged to allow conservationists to track their movements and understand their life history.

From BBC Jul. 21, 2026

For decades, scientists have used these rings to reconstruct the life history of Tyrannosaurus rex.

From Science Daily Jun. 22, 2026

Andrew Wilson’s “I Wanna Be Loved by You,” with a seductive cover image of the actress, offers a surprisingly sensible life history in quickfire snippets of information, or “100 Takes.”

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 5, 2026

Yet so much of the media coverage around Kennedy, especially lately, has focused more on his personality and lurid life history rather than the chaos and destruction he has sown.

From Salon Nov. 29, 2025

He went on a bit then, filling me in on the rest of his limp life history.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training