Adjacent Words

Essence definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ES'SENCE, n. [L. essentia, esse, to be.]
1. That which constitutes the particular nature of a being or substance, or of a genus, and which distinguishes it from all others.
Mr. Locke makes a distinction between nominal essence and real essence. The nominal essence, for example, of gold, is that complex idea expressed by gold; the real essence is the constitution of its insensible parts, on which its properties depend, which is unknown to us.
The essence of God bears no relation to place.
2. Formal existence; that which makes any thing to be what it is; or rather, the peculiar nature of a thing; the very substance; as the essence of christianity.
3. Existence; the quality of being.
I could have resigned my very essence.
4. A being; an existent person; as heavenly essences.
5. Species of being.
6. Constituent substance; as the pure essence of a spirit. [Locke's real essence, supra.]
7. The predominant qualities or virtues of any plant or drug, extracted, refined or rectified from grosser matter; or more strictly, a volatile essential oil; as the essence of mint.
8. Perfume, odor,scent; or the volatile matter constituting perfume.
Nor let th' imprisoned essences exhale.
ES'SENCE, v.t. To perfume; to scent.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" [syn: kernel, substance, core, center, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty-gritty]
2: any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted
3: the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work [syn: effect, essence, burden, core, gist]
4: a toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor [syn: perfume, essence]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English essencia, from Latin essentia, from esse to be — more at is Date: 14th century 1. a. the permanent as contrasted with the accidental element of being b. the individual, real, or ultimate nature of a thing especially as opposed to its existence <a painting that captures the essence of the land> c. the properties or attributes by means of which something can be placed in its proper class or identified as being what it is 2. something that exists ; entity 3. a. (1) a volatile substance or constituent (as of perfume) (2) a constituent or derivative possessing the special qualities (as of a plant or drug) in concentrated form; also a preparation of such an essence or a synthetic substitute b. odor, perfume 4. one that possesses or exhibits a quality in abundance as if in concentrated form <she was the essence of punctuality> 5. the most significant element, quality, or aspect of a thing or person <the essence of the issue>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the indispensable quality or element identifying a thing or determining its character; fundamental nature or inherent characteristics. 2 a an extract obtained by distillation etc., esp. a volatile oil. b a perfume or scent, esp. made from a plant or animal substance. 3 the constituent of a plant that determines its chemical properties. 4 an abstract entity; the reality underlying a phenomenon or all phenomena. Phrases and idioms: in essence fundamentally. of the essence indispensable, vital. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L essentia f. esse be

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Essence Es"sence, n. [F. essence, L. essentia, formed as if fr. a p. pr. of esse to be. See Is, and cf. Entity.] 1. The constituent elementary notions which constitute a complex notion, and must be enumerated to define it; sometimes called the nominal essence. 2. The constituent quality or qualities which belong to any object, or class of objects, or on which they depend for being what they are (distinguished as real essence); the real being, divested of all logical accidents; that quality which constitutes or marks the true nature of anything; distinctive character; hence, virtue or quality of a thing, separated from its grosser parts. The laws are at present, both in form and essence, the greatest curse that society labors under. --Landor. Gifts and alms are the expressions, not the essence of this virtue [charity]. --Addison. The essence of Addison's humor is irony. --Courthope. 3. Constituent substance. And uncompounded is their essence pure. --Milton. 4. A being; esp., a purely spiritual being. As far as gods and heavenly essences Can perish. --Milton. He had been indulging in fanciful speculations on spiritual essences, until . . . he had and ideal world of his own around him. --W. Irving. 5. The predominant qualities or virtues of a plant or drug, extracted and refined from grosser matter; or, more strictly, the solution in spirits of wine of a volatile or essential oil; as, the essence of mint, and the like. The . . . word essence . . . scarcely underwent a more complete transformation when from being the abstract of the verb ``to be,'' it came to denote something sufficiently concrete to be inclosed in a glass bottle. --J. S. Mill. 6. Perfume; odor; scent; or the volatile matter constituting perfume. Nor let the essences exhale. --Pope.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Essence Es"sence, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Essenced; p. pr. & vb. n. Essencing.] To perfume; to scent. ``Essenced fops.'' --Addison.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(essences) 1. The essence of something is its basic and most important characteristic which gives it its individual identity. The essence of consultation is to listen to, and take account of, the views of those consulted. ...the essence of life... N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n • You use in essence to emphasize that you are talking about the most important or central aspect of an idea, situation, or event. Though off-puttingly complicated in detail, local taxes are in essence simple. PHRASE: PHR with cl/group [emphasis] • If you say that something is of the essence, you mean that it is absolutely necessary in order for a particular action to be successful. Speed was of the essence in a project of this type. = crucial PHRASE: V inflects 2. Essence is a very concentrated liquid that is used for flavouring food or for its smell. ...a few drops of vanilla essence. N-MASS

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. nature, substance, quintessence, essential part, central nature, inmost nature or substance, vital element or part. 2. Extract, volatile part, rectified portion. 3. Odor, perfume, scent. 4. Being, existence, entity, nature. II. v. a. perfume, scent.

Moby Thesaurus

affective meaning, ambergris, ambrosia, aroma, aromatic, aromatic gum, aromatic water, artifact, aspect, at bottom, attar, attar of roses, attribute, au fond, axiom, balm, balm of Gilead, balsam, basically, basis, bay oil, be-all and end-all, bearing, being, bench mark, bergamot oil, best part, better part, body, bottom, brainchild, breath, bulk, burden, cardinal point, case, center, champaca oil, chapter, chief thing, child, civet, climax, coinage, coloring, composition, concentrate, concentration, concern, concoction, connotation, consequence, core, cornerstone, creation, creature, crisis, critical, critical point, crowning achievement, crucial, crux, decoction, definite odor, denotation, detectable odor, distillate, distillation, drift, effect, effluvium, element, elixir, emanation, end product, ens, entity, esse, essential, essential matter, essential oil, essentiality, essentially, exhalation, existence, extension, extract, extraction, fabric, fiber, fixative, flavor, flower, focus, focus of attention, focus of interest, force, form, fragrance, fruit, fume, fundamental, fundamentally, generality, gist, grammatical meaning, gravamen, great point, handiwork, head, heading, heart, heliotrope, high point, hypostasis, idea, impact, implication, import, important, important thing, in effect, in essence, indispensable, infusion, inner essence, intension, invention, inwardness, issue, jasmine oil, kernel, keystone, landmark, lavender oil, lexical meaning, life, literal meaning, living issue, main body, main point, main thing, major part, majority, manufacture, marrow, mass, masterpiece, masterwork, material, material point, materiality, materially, matter, matter in hand, meaning, meat, medium, milestone, mintage, most, motif, motive, musk, myrcia oil, myrrh, nature, new mintage, nub, nubbin, nucleus, nuts and bolts, occurrence, odor, of the essence, offspring, opera, opus, opuscule, origination, outcome, outgrowth, overtone, parfum, perfume, perfumery, pertinence, pith, pivot, plurality, point, point at issue, point in question, postulate, practical consequence, presence, principle, problem, product, production, property, purification, purport, quality, question, quid, quiddity, quintessence, quintessential, range of meaning, real issue, real meaning, recap, recapitulation, redolence, reference, referent, refinement, relation, relevance, requisite, result, resume, rock bottom, root, rose oil, rubric, run-through, rundown, salient point, sap, savor, scent, scope, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, sine qua non, smell, soul, span of meaning, spirit, spoor, stench, structural meaning, stuff, subject, subject matter, subject of thought, subsistence, substance, substantiality, substantially, substantive point, subtle odor, sum, sum and substance, summary, summation, symbolic meaning, tenor, text, texture, the bottom line, the nitty-gritty, the point, theme, thrust, timber, tincture, topic, totality of associations, trace, trail, transferred meaning, turning point, unadorned meaning, undertone, value, virtuality, virtually, vital, volatile oil, whiff, work