life instinct
noun
See under death instinct.
Origin of life instinct
First recorded in 1905–10
Words nearby life instinct
Definition for life instinct (2 of 2)
death instinct
noun
suicidal tendency or inclination; predisposition to self-destruction.
Psychoanalysis.
an impulse to withdraw or destroy, working in opposition to forces urging survival and creation (life instinct).
Origin of death instinct
First recorded in 1915–20
Example sentences from the Web for life instinct
The gradual disappearance of my “life-instinct,” which already began a few years ago, is now more marked, more precise.
Life of Elie Metchnikoff, 1845-1916 |Olga Metchnikoff
British Dictionary definitions for life instinct
life instinct
noun
psychoanal
the instinct for reproduction and self-preservation
Medical definitions for life instinct (1 of 2)
life instinct
n.
In psychoanalytic theory, the instinct of self-preservation and sexual procreation.
Medical definitions for life instinct (2 of 2)
death instinct
n.
A primitive impulse for destruction, decay, and death, manifested by a turning away from pleasure, postulated by Sigmund Freud as coexisting with and opposing the life instinct.
Thanatos