Lyf

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An obsolete Middle English spelling of the word life, meaning the state of being alive or the period between birth and death
2. A former variant spelling of life, used in older English texts to mean existence, vitality, or the time one lives
3. An old spelling of life, referring to the condition of being alive and to the duration of a living being's existence

Etymology: In Old English, "lȳf" meant medicine, remedy or drug, and could also refer to a poison. It was a separate noun from "līf", meaning life, which differed mainly in vowel length. Old English spelling rarely marked that length, so scribes sometimes wrote one for the other. Both nouns probably descend from the same Germanic root. The medicinal sense faded from English, while the spelling "lyf" survives mainly in Middle English texts, where it is an older variant of "life."