English

lifetime

Lifetime comes from Middle English lyftyme.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

A compound of life + time

Proto-Germanic *lībą ‘life’

Proto-West Germanic *līb ‘body’

Old English līf

Middle English lyf

English life

Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to divide’

…

Proto-Germanic *tīmô ‘division, period; time’

Proto-West Germanic *tīmō

Old English tīma ‘time, period’

Middle English tyme

English time

Every English word from Middle English lyftyme

noun The duration of the life of someone or something.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.