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Essence

//ˈɛsəns// name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A female given name of African-American usage.
Noun
  1. 1
    The inherent nature of a thing or idea. countable, uncountable

    "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."

  2. 2
    a toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor wordnet
  3. 3
    The true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience wordnet
  5. 5
    Constituent substance. countable, uncountable

    "For Spirits when they pleaſe / Can either Sex aſſume, or both ; ſo ſoft / And uncompounded is their Eſſence pure, / Not ti’d or manacl’d with joynt or limb, / Nor founded on the brittle ſtrength of bones, / Like cumbrous fleſh[…]"

Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work wordnet
  2. 7
    A being; especially, a purely spiritual being. countable, uncountable

    "And put to proof his high Supremacy, / Whether upheld by ſtrength, or Chance, or Fate, / Too well I ſee and rue the dire event, / That with ſad overthrow and foul defeat / Hath loſt us Heav’n, and all this mighty Hoſt / In horrible deſtruction laid thus low, / As far as Gods and Heav’nly Eſſences / Can Periſh."

  3. 8
    any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted wordnet
  4. 9
    A significant feature of something. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    The concentrated form of a plant or drug obtained through an extraction or distillation process. countable, uncountable

    "essence of Jojoba"

  6. 11
    An extract or concentrate obtained from a plant or other matter used for flavouring, or as a restorative. countable, uncountable

    "vanilla essence"

  7. 12
    Fragrance, a perfume. countable, uncountable

    "Our humbler province is to tend the Fair, / Not a leſs pleaſing, tho’ leſs glorious care ; / To ſave the powder from too rude a gale, / Nor let th’ impriſon’d eſſences exhale[…]"

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, “I am, exist”).

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