still life
- a representation chiefly of inanimate objects, as a painting of a bowl of fruit.
- the category of subject matter in which inanimate objects are represented, as in painting or photography.
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Origin of still life
First recorded in 1635–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for still life
Contemporary Examples
The next minute they are frozen in an eerie, extended tableau vivant——a still-life that's not actually still.
The photographs displayed on Flickr become an endless exercise in projection—a still-life ChatRoulette.
So too, the photographs displayed on Flickr become an endless exercise in projection—a still-life ChatRoulette.
Historical Examples
The smaller were pictures of still-life and the largest were landscapes.
The Moon and SixpenceW. Somerset Maugham
When they see your work they'll see that you're fit for still-life, at least.
The Coast of BohemiaWilliam Dean Howells
My plan is as follows:—Suppose a piece of still-life to be the subject.
His pictures are chiefly landscapes with animals, and still-life.
He and his son were the founders of the "still-life" school in their country.
still life
- a painting or drawing of inanimate objects, such as fruit, flowers, etc
- (as modifier)a still-life painting
- the genre of such paintings
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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
Word Origin and History for still life
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper