If you study Japanese and watch anime, you must have noticed that there are several words to refer to life. Seikatsu [生活], inochi [命] and jinsei [人生] are just a few of them. In this article, we will see how to express life in Japanese and its differences.
Have you ever wondered why there are so many words with the same meaning? There are 2 ideograms related to life that make up several palavras japonesas with that meaning.
First, we have the ideogram sei [生] which, in addition to life, indicates birth, living, and existing, as well as conveying the idea of something natural and genuine. The second ideogram inochi [命] conveys the idea of life, vitality, destiny, and vital force.
These two ideograms can be put together to form the word seimei [生命], which means life and existence. However, it is commonly the word sonzai [存在] used to refer to the existence of things.

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The meaning of the word Inochi [命] and derivatives
Let's start by examining the word inochi [命] which gives an idea of conceptual life, our vital force, our lifespan, something important, our foundation and core. People used to use this ideogram as tattoos on their arms to indicate unshakeable love.
As such, this word is commonly used for occasions when our life is at risk, or when we save someone's life. This word portrays the concept of life and death, it can be used in phrases like being between life and death, has life on another planet and similar situations.
To better understand the concept of the ideogram and the word inochi [命], we must increase our vocabulary with other related words that can help us understand better. I will leave a list of derived and related words with inochi [命] below:
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Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
Destiny | 運命 | unmei |
order, command, decree | 命令 | meirei |
death anniversary | 命日 | meinichi |
naming, baptism | 命名 | meimei |
risk life | 命がけ | inochigake |
Meaning of seikatsu, jinsei and words derived from [生]
The ideogram sei [生] is very broad and is part of thousands of words and verbs. It is connected with birth, lifestyle, nature, purity, and production. One of the most popular words is seikatsu [生活] which means life, living, sustaining, way of life, and lifestyle.
The word seikatsu is composed of the ideogram for life [生] + activity [活], which also conveys the idea of life and living. The word seikatsu is used to refer to our daily life, such as in school or work, a lifestyle, unlike inochi [命], which refers to our existence.
We also have the word jinsei [人生] which is commonly used to refer to the concept of human life, as it is composed with the ideogram [人] that means person. Human life can also be written as jinmei [人命] but again it is related to saving a life as opposed to the concept of human life [人生].
Curiously, the ideogram [生] can also be used as a prefix that indicates something pure, undiluted, raw, or crude. In addition, it is also a counting suffix for growth area and thickness of grams, trees, and natural things. Words like biochemistry, physiology, ecosystem, and survival are also composed of [生].
To help you understand more about the meaning and usage of ideograms [生] and related ones, we will leave a list of words below and their meanings. I hope you enjoyed the article, if you liked it share and leave your comments or questions.
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Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
Birth | 生まれる | umareru |
Live, exist, earn a living | 生きる | ikiru |
production, manufacturing | 生産 | seisan |
Student | 生徒 | seito |
living creature | 生物 | seibutsu |
living thing | 生き物 | ikimono |
Body | 体 | karada |
Whole life, until death | 一生 | issho |
Lively, vividly, actively | 生き生き | ikiiki |
grow, sprout | 生える | haeru |