| term | pronunciation | English |
|---|
| 人命 | じんめい | (human) life |
| 命じる | めいじる | to order, to command, to appoint |
| 命ずる | めいずる | to command, to appoint (v5z) |
| 命令 | めいれい | order, command, decree, directive |
| 懸命 | けんめい | eagerness, earnestness, risking one's life |
| 生命 | せいめい | life |
| 一生懸命 | いっしょうけんめい | very hard, with utmost effort, with all one's might, for dear life |
| 亡命 | ぼうめい | emigration, exile, flight from one's country, defection |
| 使命 | しめい | mission, errand, message |
| 命 | めい, みょう | command, decree, life, destiny |
| 命懸け | いのちがけ | life and death, risking one's life, risky, desperate |
| 命拾い | いのちびろい | narrow escape from death |
| 命旦夕に迫る | めいたんせきにせまる | to be on the brink of death |
| 命綱 | いのちづな | lifeline |
| 宿命 | しゅくめい | fate, destiny, predestination |
| 寿命 | じゅみょう | life span |
| 延命 | えんめい | long life, longevity; macrobiotics |
| 救命 | きゅうめい | lifesaving |
| 救命艇 | きゅうめいてい | lifeboat |
| 生命保険 | せいめいほけん | life insurance |
| 生命倫理 | せいめいりんり | bioethics |
| 致命傷 | ちめいしょう | fatal wound |
| 致命的 | ちめいてき | fatal, lethal |
| 運命 | うんめい | fate |