Definition from Merriam-Webster:
1. noun
- the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body or inanimate matter
- a state of an organism characterized especially by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction
- the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual
- the period during which an organism lives
- a specific phase or aspect of such a life
- a way or manner of living
- a vital or living being