life expectancy

noun

: the average lifespan of an individual

Examples of life expectancy in a Sentence

improvements in diet that have resulted in greater life expectancy for many people

calculating the life expectancies of different social groups

Recent Examples on the Web

The average American retirement age is 61, meaning that someone who lives to 79 — the average life expectancy — spends 23 percent of their lives retired. — Richard Sima, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2026

Risk pooling allows actuaries to calculate average life expectancy and apply it to a large group. — Jeff Stevenson, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026

The number is what gets you into a socialized system that spends a quarter of what America costs per person and still has an average life expectancy of five more years. — Mariska Breland, STAT, 4 Nov. 2026

And yet life expectancy in this city still swings by more than a decade depending on your zip code. — Ida Kristensen, New York Daily News, 3 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

life expectancy

noun

: the number of years that an individual or group of a certain age can expect to live on the average based on experience in the past for individuals or groups of the same kind

Medical Definition

life expectancy

noun

: an expected number of years of life based on statistical probability

Legal Definition

life expectancy

noun

: the average life span of an individual