life-giving

adjective

Necessary for life.

“We would have died without the unexpected rain that brought life-giving water.”

Meanings

adjectivelife-giving (comparative more life-giving, superlative most life-giving)

comparative more life-giving · superlative most life-giving

  1. Necessary for life.

    We would have died without the unexpected rain that brought life-giving water.

    2 more examples

    The FDA has "blood on its hands" in its devastatingly slow release of potentially life-giving drugs to people surviving with AIDS and ARC.

    1989 April 15, Michael Ambrosino, “Acting Up In The Northwest”, in Gay Community News, page 16

    Her days were taken up with the life-giving, hard, unrecompensed work of women of all ages to feed, clothe and nurture her household.

    2000 June 17, Elizabeth A. Johnson, “Mary of Nazareth: Friend of God and Prophet”, in America, volume 182, number 21
  2. Creating or engendering life; being a source of life.
nounlife-giving (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe act of giving life, of creating beings or fostering their survival.

    The systematic, violent overthrow of an ethos of lifegiving by one that placed higher value on the taking of life culminated in the destruction of the Minoan civilization of Crete some four millenia ^([sic]) later.

    1988 December 11, John Kyper, “The 'Truth' Of Male-Dominated Social Science”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 22, page 8

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivegiving or having the power to give life and spirit

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Ancient Greek βιόδωρος
  • βιόδωρος (biódōros)necessary for life
Bulgarian животворен
  • животворен (životvoren)necessary for life
Greek ζωοποιός
  • ζωοποιός (zoopoiós)which creates life
Latin vitālis
  • vitālisnecessary for life
Māori whakamanapou
  • whakamanapounecessary for life
Norwegian Bokmål livgivende
  • livgivendenecessary for life
Polish życiodajny
  • życiodajnynecessary for life
Cite this entry
APA

life-giving. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life-giving

MLA

“life-giving.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life-giving. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “life-giving,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/life-giving.

Source: life-giving on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.