Etymology

afterlife

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Today it means: A conscious existence after death; a supernatural life that follows one's natural life, in some worldviews. Full definition →

English life ← Middle English lyf ← Old English līf
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep(o)teros
  4. Proto-Germanic*after
  5. Old Englishæfter
  6. Middle Englishafter
  7. Englishafter
  8. Old Englishæfter
  9. Old Englishæfter-
  10. Middle Englishafter-
  11. Englishafter-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*leyp-
  13. Proto-Germanic*lībaną
  14. Proto-Germanic*lībą
  15. Proto-West Germanic*līb
  16. Old Englishlīf
  17. Middle Englishlyf
  18. Englishlife
  19. English todayafterlife

From after- + life.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.