With this paper I’m trying to establish basic parameters for understanding the different realities linked to a phenomenon called "living lab." I shall distinguish four senses related to this term: as an organization, as an institution, as a methodology and as a space. I shall distinguish four application areas: to support R&D processes, to support social cohesion, to support territorial development, and to support digital culture. Finally, I shall distinguish three types of research about on living labs: on “livinglabing”, on "livinglabism" and on "livinglabisation." These parameters should help us to contextualize the various events that take cover behind the expression of "living lab" and to reduce the ambiguity of its diverse meanings. This will help us to organize comprehensive maps and to distinguish between the different fields of application of the living labs. Also, help us to organize the experiences and the literature about the livinglabisation of the R&D, the socio-economic phenomenon of livinglabism and the daily activity in the living labs.