life cycle

/ˌlaɪf ˈsaɪkəl/

/laɪf ˈsaɪkəl/

Other forms: life cycles

The various stages that an organism goes through as it grows make up its life cycle. You'll probably study the life cycles of various plants and animals in science class.

A butterfly begins life as an egg. A caterpillar (or larva) hatches from the egg. After feeding for some time, the caterpillar forms a cocoon. Finally, an adult butterfly emerges from the cocoon — and eventually lays more eggs. Together, these stages are the butterfly's life cycle. Anything that passes through a number of stages — including stars, companies, and types of technology — can also be described as having a life cycle.

Definitions of life cycle

1. noun

   a series of stages through which an organism passes between recurrences of a primary stage
   type of:

   organic phenomenon

   (biology) a natural phenomenon involving living plants and animals
2. noun

   the course of developmental changes in an organism from fertilized zygote to maturity when another zygote can be produced
   type of:

   development, growing, growth, maturation, ontogenesis, ontogeny

   (biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level