life table: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
LowTechnical
Quick answer
What does “life table” mean?
A statistical table showing the number of deaths and survivors at each age in a given population, used to calculate life expectancy and mortality rates.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A statistical table showing the number of deaths and survivors at each age in a given population, used to calculate life expectancy and mortality rates.
A tool in demography, actuarial science, and epidemiology for modeling population dynamics, assessing insurance risks, and studying public health trends.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal; the term is identical in both variants with no spelling or pronunciation variations.
Connotations
Technical and neutral in both contexts, primarily associated with actuarial and demographic fields.
Frequency
Equally low in general usage but common in specialized academic and professional contexts in both regions.
Grammar
How to Use “life table” in a Sentence
The life table [verb] that...According to the life table,...Based on the life table,...Vocabulary
Collocations
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Used in insurance and pension planning to assess risks and set premiums.
Academic
Essential in demography and public health research for analyzing population trends.
Everyday
Rarely used; might arise in discussions about life expectancy, retirement, or health statistics.
Technical
A precise tool in actuarial science for calculating life expectancy, annuities, and reserves.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “life table”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “life table”
- Using 'life table' as a verb, e.g., 'We need to life table the data.'
- Confusing it with simple life expectancy charts or graphs.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
A life table is a statistical table that displays the number of deaths and survivors at each age in a population, used to compute life expectancy and other demographic measures.
They are widely used in actuarial science for insurance pricing, in demography for population studies, and in public health for mortality analysis.
A period life table uses mortality rates from a specific time period for a hypothetical cohort, while a cohort life table tracks the actual mortality experience of a group born in the same period over their lifetimes.
Life expectancy is derived by summing the expected years lived for each age interval and dividing by the number of survivors at the starting age, based on age-specific mortality rates in the table.
A statistical table showing the number of deaths and survivors at each age in a given population, used to calculate life expectancy and mortality rates.
Life table is usually technical in register.
Life table: in British English it is pronounced /laɪf ˈteɪb(ə)l/, and in American English it is pronounced /laɪf ˈteɪbəl/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a table that charts the course of life, listing how many people live and die at each age.
Conceptual Metaphor
A map of mortality; a timeline of survival.
Practice
Quiz
What is the primary purpose of a life table?