Lebenswelt

English

Etymology

From German Lebenswelt: Leben (“life”) + Welt (“world”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lāʹbənzvĕlt (approximate), IPA^(key): /ˈleːbənzvɛlt/,

Noun

Lebenswelt (usually uncountable, plural Lebenswelten)

1. (chiefly in the philosophy of Edmund Husserl) The sum total of all immediate phenomena which constitute the world of an individual or of a corporate life; life-world.
   • 1999, Simon Blackburn, Think: A compelling introduction to philosophy, chapter 7: The World, section 7: The Eye of the Beholder, page 260 (Oxford University Press, paperback, →ISBN

     The mind, for the idealist, creates the world we live in, the ‘Lebenswelt’ of our thoughts, imaginings, and perceptions.

German

Etymology

From Leben (“life”) +‎ Welt (“world”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈleːbm̩sˌvɛlt], [ˈleːbənsˌvɛlt]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Lebenswelt f (genitive Lebenswelt, plural Lebenswelten)

1. (living) environment

Declension

Declension of Lebenswelt [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Lebenswelt	die	Lebenswelten
genitive	einer	der	Lebenswelt	der	Lebenswelten
dative	einer	der	Lebenswelt	den	Lebenswelten
accusative	eine	die	Lebenswelt	die	Lebenswelten

Further reading

• “Lebenswelt” in Duden online