Nearby words
Origin of life instinct
First recorded in 1905–10
Definition for life instinct (2 of 2)
death instinct
noun
suicidal tendency or inclination; predisposition to self-destruction.
Psychoanalysis. an impulse to withdraw or destroy, working in opposition to forces urging survival and creation (life instinct).
Origin of death instinct
First recorded in 1915–20
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for life instinct
The gradual disappearance of my “life-instinct,” which already began a few years ago, is now more marked, more precise.
Life of Elie Metchnikoff, 1845-1916|Olga Metchnikoff
British Dictionary definitions for life instinct
life instinct
noun
psychoanal the instinct for reproduction and self-preservation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Medicine definitions for life instinct (1 of 2)
life instinct
n.
In psychoanalytic theory, the instinct of self-preservation and sexual procreation.
Medicine definitions for life instinct (2 of 2)
death instinct
n.
A primitive impulse for destruction, decay, and death, manifested by a turning away from pleasure, postulated by Sigmund Freud as coexisting with and opposing the life instinct.Thanatos
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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