Meanings
- human sciencesA hypothetical answer to all of life's ultimate questions; the purpose or raison d'être of human life.
I asked myself if this were the meaning of life—to be a work-beast? I knew of no horse in the city of Oakland that worked the hours I worked.
1913 August, Jack London, chapter VII, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 632 more examples
The meaning of life here on earth might be defined as consisting in this: To unfold your self, to work what thing you have the faculty for. It is a necessity for the human being, the first law of our existence.
1840 May 22, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture VI. The Hero as King. Cromwell, Napoleon: Modern Revolutionism.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 207But he was no nearer to the meaning of life than he had been before. Why the world was there and what men had come into existence for at all was as inexplicable as ever.
1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 274
Translations
Arabic مَعْنَى اَلْحَيَاة
- مَعْنَى اَلْحَيَاة (maʕnā l-ḥayāh)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Chinese Mandarin 人生的真諦 /人生的真谛, 生命的價值 /生命的价值
- 人生的真諦 /人生的真谛 (rénshēng de zhēndì)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
- 生命的價值 /生命的价值 (shēngmìng de jiàzhí)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
- 生命的真理 (shēngmìng de zhēnlǐ)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
- 生命的意義 /生命的意义 (shēngmìng de yìyì)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Czech smysl života
- smysl životahypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Danish meningen med livet
- meningen med livethypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Dutch zin van het leven
- zin van het levenhypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Finnish elämän tarkoitus
- elämän tarkoitushypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
French sens de la vie
- sens de la viehypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
German Sinn des Lebens
- Sinn des Lebenshypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Hungarian az élet értelme
- az élet értelmehypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Icelandic tilgangur lífsins
- tilgangur lífsinshypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Italian il senso della vita
- il senso della vitahypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Japanese 人生の意義, 人生の意味
- 人生の意義 (jinsei-no igi)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
- 人生の意味 (jinsei-no imi)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Korean 인생의 의미
- 인생의 의미 (insaeng'ui uimi)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Norwegian livets mening, meningen med livet
- livets meninghypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
- meningen med livethypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Polish sens życia
- sens życiahypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Portuguese sentido da vida
- sentido da vidahypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Russian смысл жи́зни
- смысл жи́зни (smysl žízni)hypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Slovak zmysel života
- zmysel životahypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Spanish sentido de la vida
- sentido de la vidahypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Swedish livets mening, meningen med livet
- livets meninghypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
- meningen med livethypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Turkish hayatın anlamı, yaşamın anlamı
- hayatın anlamıhypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
- yaşamın anlamıhypothetical answer to life’s ultimate questions
Cite this entry
meaning of life. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meaning%20of%20life
“meaning of life.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meaning%20of%20life. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meaning of life,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meaning%20of%20life.
Source: meaning of life on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.