Quintessence
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A thing that is the most perfect example of its type; the most perfect embodiment of something; epitome, prototype. countable, uncountable
"As families and kindreds sometimes do; producing, after long ages of unnoted notability, some living quintescence of all the qualities they had, to flame forth as a man world-noted […]"
- 2 the most typical example or representative of a type wordnet
- 3 A pure substance. countable, uncountable
- 4 the purest and most concentrated essence of something wordnet
- 5 The essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form. countable, uncountable
"For vvhat is ſilke but eu'n a Quinteſſence, / Made vvithout hands beyond al humane ſenſe? / A quinteſſence? nay vvel it may be call'd, / A deathleſſe tincture, ſent vs from the skies, / VVhoſe colour ſtands, vvhose gloſſe is ne're appalld, […]"
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- 6 the fifth and highest element after air and earth and fire and water; was believed to be the substance composing all heavenly bodies wordnet
- 7 The fifth alchemical element, or essence, after earth, air, fire, and water that fills the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere. countable, uncountable
- 8 A hypothetical form of dark energy postulated to explain observations of an accelerating universe. countable, uncountable
- 1 To reduce to its purest and most concentrated essence. transitive
Example
More examples"Aristotle believed that the celestial bodies were made of a fifth element, called the aether or quintessence."
Etymology
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English, borrowed from Middle French, from Medieval Latin quinta essentia (“fifth essence, aether”). "Essence" in this context is a synonym for "element". In pre-atomic/Aristotelian theory, there are four known elements or essences — Earth, Air, Fire and Water — and a putative fifth element (aether), which is considered to be of exceptional superior quality to the other four basic elements.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.