nonlife

[non-lahyf]

noun

1. lack or absence of life.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nonlife¹

First recorded in 1725–35; non- + life

Example Sentences

"My long-term scientific goal is to understand the inherent difference between life and nonlife, mathematically; why the transition from nonlife to life is so difficult, while the other way around is so easy," said Assistant Professor Yusuke Himeoka from the Universal Biology Institute.

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Moreover Cleland argues that it’s always possible to come up with an abstraction of life so coarse that it inadvertently includes some examples of nonlife.

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“It would be very difficult to observe a planet with the composition of Earth’s atmosphere and figure out ways for nonlife processes to produce that,” says Giada Arney, an exoplanet scientist at Goddard.

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Two officers were transported to a hospital where they also were treated for nonlife threatening injuries, police said.

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Robinson was later found at a hospital where he was treated for nonlife threatening injuries.

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