WordNet
life principle
n. a hypothetical force to which the functions and qualities peculiar to living things are sometimes ascribed [syn: vital principle]
Usage examples of "life principle".
The animals of the hunt are regarded in this way as willing victims who give their bodies to mankind with the understanding that adequate rites are to be performed to return the life principle to its source.
If the blood of an animal slain is returned to the soil, it will carry the life principle back to Mother Earth for rebirth, and the same beast will return next season to yield its temporal body again.