The length of time that a person, animal, or thing is alive or exists and functions.
Compound of life + span; 'span' comes from Old English spannan meaning to stretch or extend, so literally 'how far life stretches'.
Human lifespan has roughly doubled in the last 200 years, not because we're biologically different but because antibiotics, vaccines, and clean water eliminated the diseases that killed most people as children—it's one of humanity's greatest achievements.
Women's lifespans have historically been elided in medical research and insurance actuarial models designed by and for men. 'Lifespan' often invisibly defaults to male reference bodies in health discussions.
When discussing health outcomes, explicitly include sex and gender variables; avoid lifespan as gender-neutral without data backing.
["operational period","service life","existence period"]
Women's longer average lifespan was systematized in demography by scholars like Ansley Coale; health research must center women's lived experience across the full life course.
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