essence

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English essence, from Middle French essence, from Latin essentia (“the being or essence of a thing”), from an artificial formation of esse (“to be”), to translate Ancient Greek οὐσία (ousía, “being”), from ὤν (ṓn), present participle of εἰμί (eimí, “to be, exist”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɛsəns/ Rhymes: -ɛsəns === Noun === essence (countable and uncountable, plural essences) The inherent nature of a thing or idea. 1713 September 21, Joseph Addison, The Guardian, collected in The Works of the Late Right Honorable Joseph Addison, volume IV, Birmingham: John Baskerville, published 1761, page 263: CHARITY is a virtue of the heart, and not of the hands, ſays an old writer. Gifts and alms are the expreſſions, not the eſſence of this virtue. (philosophy) The true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory. Constituent substance. A being; especially, a purely spiritual being. A significant feature of something. (Can we add an example for this sense?) The concentrated form of a plant or drug obtained through an extraction or distillation process. An extract or concentrate obtained from a plant or other matter used for flavouring, or as a restorative. Fragrance, a perfume. ==== Synonyms ==== (inherent nature): quintessence, whatness; See also Thesaurus:essence (significant feature): gist, crux; See also Thesaurus:gist (fragrance): aroma, bouquet; See also Thesaurus:aroma ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== essential essentially essentialism quintessential ==== Translations ==== ==== Further reading ==== “essence”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “essence”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. === Anagrams === senesce == French == === Etymology === From Old French, from Latin essentia. Sense 2 very likely from Latin edō (“eat”), in the sense of 'what is eaten, fuel'. Many forms of the latter are indistinguishable from the former, and so the confusion with essence is very understandable. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /e.sɑ̃s/, /ɛ.sɑ̃s/ ~ /e.sɑ̃s/ === Noun === essence f (plural essences) (philosophy, theology) essence petrol, gasoline essence, essential oil ==== Derived terms ==== pompe à essence poste d'essence station essence ==== Descendants ==== → Dutch: essence → Finnish: esanssi → Romanian: esență → Turkish: esans → Vietnamese: ét-xăng === Further reading === “essence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 === Anagrams === censées