lífræns

Lífræns is a term found in Icelandic literary, philosophical, and historical writing that can denote the realm of living matter or living systems. In everyday Icelandic, the more common terms for a living organism are lífvera or lífverur, and for biology the field is líffræði. As a result, lífræns appears infrequently outside literary, historical, or theoretical writing.

Historically, lífræns has been used to articulate a contrast between the organic and the inorganic, or to describe the biotic side of nature as a distinct domain. It may occur in translations of philosophical writers who discuss life, vitality, or organic organization. In modern prose, its use is largely stylistic and occasional.

Etymology of lífræns is not standard in lexicography; it appears to derive from líf- life with a suffix forming a noun/adjective indicating pertaining to or characterized by life, though precise morphemic analysis varies by author. Because of its limited usage, it should be used cautiously in technical or scientific writing.

See also: líffræði, lífvera, lífræn efni, náttúrufræði.