Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The philosophical doctrine holding that all matter has life, which is a property or derivative of matter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The doctrine that all matter is endowed with life.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare The doctrine that matter possesses a species of life and sensation, or that matter and life are inseparable.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A philosophical doctrine espousing that all or some material things possess life, or that all life is inseparable from matter.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek hūlē, matter + Greek zōē, life; see gwei- in Indo-European roots + –ism.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ὕλη (hulē) "matter" + ζωή (zōē) "life"

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Examples

Comments

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  • The doctrine that matter is inseparable from life; life is a property of matter. See also hylopathism.

    May 15, 2007

  • The Christian Scientist, in funereal, impressive black, discussed the contra-will and pan-psychic hylozoism. The university professor put on a full dress suit and lisle thread gloves...

    - Frank Norris, The Octopus, bk 2, ch. 1

    August 19, 2008