lifetimes
Whole mortal durations
Lifetimes is the plural of lifetime, referring to multiple spans of human existence.
The word often emphasizes vast duration or accumulated experience: It would take lifetimes to read every book in this library.
When someone says something happens once in a lifetime, the plural intensifies rarity further: Opportunities like this come along once in ten lifetimes.
Distance between endpoints
- spansReaches across a gap
- yearsTwelve-month spans
- decadesTen-year periods
- centuriesHundred-year periods
millennia · eons · aeons · generations · epochs · ages · periods · cycles
Inherited cultural legacy
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- bequestGift left by will
- endowmentPermanent donated fund
- traditionCustom passed through generations
heirloom · patrimony · dynasty · bloodline · ancestry · descendants · progeny · monument
Spiritual or physical regeneration
- incarnationsPhysical forms assumed
- transmigrationSoul passing into another body
- karmaSpiritual cause and effect
- soulInnermost animating essence
samsara · afterlife · cycles · regression · memories · dharma · continuity
Written personal recollection
- autobiographySelf-penned life narrative
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- narrativeAccount of events
- journeyTravel from place to place
odyssey · retrospective · recollections · memoirs · testament · documentary · profile · account
span
Distance between endpoints
centuries · millennia · eons · aeons · generations · epochs · ages · periods · cycles · intervals
heritage
Inherited cultural legacy
- inheritanceProperty received from ancestors
- bequestGift left by will
- endowmentPermanent donated fund
tradition · heirloom · patrimony · dynasty · bloodline · ancestry · descendants · progeny · monument · memorial
rebirth
Spiritual or physical regeneration
- incarnationsPhysical forms assumed
- transmigrationSoul passing into another body
- karmaSpiritual cause and effect
soul · samsara · afterlife · cycles · regression · memories · dharma · continuity
memoir
Written personal recollection
- autobiographySelf-penned life narrative
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- narrativeAccount of events
journey · odyssey · retrospective · recollections · memoirs · testament · documentary · profile · account · history
- once in a lifetimeOccurring only one time
- lifetime jobPermanent, secure employment
- lifetime achievementAward for career-long excellence
- lifetime warrantyPromise lasting your entire existence
- lifetime banPerpetual exclusion from participation
- lifetime achievement awardHonor for body of work