Adjacent Words

Quintessence definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

QUINTES'SENCE, n. [L. quinta essentia, fifth essence.]
1. In alchimy, the fifth or last and highest essence of power in a natural body. Hence,
2. An extract from any thing, containing its virtues or most essential part in a small quantity.
Let there be light, said God; and forthwith light etherial, first of things, quintessence pure, sprung from the deep.
3. In chimistry, a preparation consisting of the essential oil of a vegetable substance, mixed and incorporated with spirit of wine.
4. The pure essential part of a thing.
[I have followed Bailey and Ash and our general usage in the accentuation of this word. Jameson has done the same. The accent on the first syllable is very unnatural.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the fifth and highest element after air and earth and fire and water; was believed to be the substance composing all heavenly bodies [syn: quintessence, ether]
2: the purest and most concentrated essence of something
3: the most typical example or representative of a type

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French quinte essence, from Medieval Latin quinta essentia, literally, fifth essence Date: 15th century 1. the fifth and highest element in ancient and medieval philosophy that permeates all nature and is the substance composing the celestial bodies 2. the essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form 3. the most typical example or representative <the quintessence of calm> • quintessential adjective • quintessentially adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the most essential part of any substance; a refined extract. 2 (usu. foll. by of) the purest and most perfect, or most typical, form, manifestation, or embodiment of some quality or class. 3 (in Ancient Philosophy) a fifth substance (beside the four elements) forming heavenly bodies and pervading all things. Derivatives: quintessential adj. quintessentially adv. Etymology: ME (in sense 3) f. F f. med.L quinta essentia fifth ESSENCE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quintessence Quin*tes"sence, v. t. To distil or extract as a quintessence; to reduce to a quintessence. [R.] --Stirling. ``Truth quintessenced and raised to the highest power.'' --J. A. Symonds.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quintessence Quin*tes"sence, n. [F., fr. L. quinta essentia fifth essence. See Quint, and Essence.] 1. The fifth or last and highest essence or power in a natural body. See Ferment oils, under Ferment. [Obs.] Note: The ancient Greeks recognized four elements, fire, air, water, and earth. The Pythagoreans added a fifth and called it nether, the fifth essence, which they said flew upward at creation and out of it the stars were made. The alchemists sometimes considered alcohol, or the ferment oils, as the fifth essence. 2. Hence: An extract from anything, containing its rarest virtue, or most subtle and essential constituent in a small quantity; pure or concentrated essence. Let there be light, said God; and forthwith light Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, Sprung from the deep. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. The quintessence of something is the most perfect or typical example of it. (FORMAL) He was the quintessence of all that Eva most deeply loathed. N-UNCOUNT: with supp, usu the N of n 2. The quintessence of something is the aspect of it which seems to represent its central nature. (FORMAL) ...an old stone cottage, the quintessence of rural England. N-UNCOUNT: with supp, usu the N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Essence, essential part, extract.

Moby Thesaurus

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