essence 
es·sence (es′əns)
noun
- something that is, or exists; entity
- that which makes something what it is; intrinsic, fundamental nature or most important quality (of something); essential being
- a substance that keeps, in concentrated form, the flavor, fragrance, or other properties of the plant, drug, food, etc. from which it is extracted; essential oil
- a solution of such a substance or oil in alcohol
- a perfume
- Philos.
- the inward nature of anything, underlying its manifestations; true substance
- the indispensable conceptual characteristics and relations of anything
Etymology: ME < OFr & L essentia < esse, to be: for IE base see is
in essence
essentially
of the essence
of the greatest importance
essence
n.
Fundamental nature
pith, core, kernel, gist, root, nature, basis, being, essential quality, spirit, sum and substance, reality, quintessence, constitution, substance, binder, filler, nucleus, vital part, base, chief constituent, primary element, germ, heart, marrow, backbone, caliber, soul, lifeblood, bottom, life, grain, structure, principle, vein, character, fundamentals; see also characteristic.A distilled spirit
concentrate, extract, elixir, distillation, juice, spirit(s), tincture, liquor, alcohol, ammonia, potion, drug, drops, perfume, fragrance, scent.
in essence
Preposition: of
- Christianity: You raise me up 2004 Acrylic on canvas 201 x 139 cm The Essence of Christianity?
- falsehood: By Rose Ismail, Malaysia The essence of a Falsehood.
- conservatism: The essence of Conservatism has always been a belief in human nature as distinct from abstract ideology.
- democracy: The essence of democracy is very simple and, as Jefferson said, self-evident.
Converse of object
- capture: He has captured the essence of a busy, happy place, full of opportunity, where things happen.
- distil: H ere, we offer the following Ten Commitments, which distil the essence of the value base of the Tidal Model.
- encapsulate: I congratulate Matthew Booth on encapsulating the essence of John's ideas on trumpet playing.
- embody: In the late 1600s, two clans embodied the essence of rivalry and revenge.
- convey: Only then, is the painter ready to convey the essence of the subject onto his canvas.
- recapture: The trouble is, you never can quite recapture the essence of the past, can you?
Adjective modifier
- divine: Because of God's absolute simplicity, divine attributes signify perfections that are really identical with the divine essence and with one another.
- vibrational: These vibrational essences are natural, energetic remedies that are made during a ceremonial process in the Virginia wilderness.
- almond: It was crisp and fruity with a hint of almond essence.
- Alaskan: How to use the Alaskan essences Flower Essence Practitioner Kit There are 72 essences in the Alaskan Flower Essence Practitioner Kit.
- unchanging: The genealogical enterprise in contemporary China is not a simple re-enactment of an unchanging cultural form, reproducing an equally unchanging Chinese national essence.
- pure: However, we also believe that God in his pure essence is unknowable.
Noun used with modifier
- vanilla: You can also add grated ginger, cinnamon powder, rice syrup or vanilla essence for extra flavor.
- anchovy: Stir in the olive oil, wine and anchovy essence.
- flower: These essences are evocative of some of the most subtle levels of healing that have even been explored with flower essences.
- divine: This page explains more fully why it is not a contradiction to say that three persons share the same divine essence.
Hail holy Light, offspring of Heav'n first-born. Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
For books are more than books, they are the life The very heart and core of ages past, The reason why men lived and worked and died, The essence and quintessence of their lives.
Styleandstructurearetheessence ofa book; great ideas are hogwash.
He read partly for information, partly for comparison, partly for insight, partly for the sheer joy of felicitous statement.He delighted particularly inquotationswhich distilled the essence of an argument.
The essence of Christianity is the appeal to the life of Christ as a revelation of the nature of God and of his agency in the world. The record is fragmentary, inconsistent and uncertain But there can be no doubt as to the elements in the record that have evoked the best in human nature. The Mother, the Child and the bare manger: the lowly man, homeless and self- forgetful, with his message of peace, love and sympathy: the suffering, the agony, the tender words as life ebbed, the final despair: and the whole with the authority of supreme victory.
If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves? as they must be if the being subjected to the inconsistent, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of men, be the perfect condition of slavery? and if the essence of freedom consists, as our masters say it does, in having a standing rule to live by? And why is slavery so much condemnedandstroveagainst inonecase, andsohighly applauded, and held so necessary and so sacred in another?
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.
Nothing is more futile than theorizing about music. No doubt there are laws, mathematically strict laws, but these laws are not music; they are only its conditions The essence of music is revelation.
The mother's yearning, thatcompletest type of the life in another life which is the essence of real human love, feels the presence of the cherished child even in the debased, degraded man.
The essence of technology is by no means anything technological.
The essence of Toryism is enjoymentbut as far as communicating and establishing your creed are concernedötrya little pleasure. The way to keep up old customs is, to enjoy old customs; the way to be satisfied with the present state of things is, to enjoy that state of things.
He [John Hampden] knew that the essence of war is violence, and that moderation in war is imbecility.
Ce qu'ils ont en commun, c'est simplement le fait qu'ils estiment que l'existence pre¤ ce' de l'essence, ou, si vous voulez, qu'il faut partir de la subjectivite¤ . What [existentialists] have in common is simply the fact that they believe that existence comes before essenceöor, if you will, that we must begin from the subjective.
Qu'est-ce que signifie que l'existence pre¤ ce' de l'essence? Cela signifie que l'homme existe d'abord, se rencontre, surgit dans le monde, et qu'il se de¤ finit apre' s. What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? Wemeanthat manfirst of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the worldöand defines himself afterwards.
The poet gives us his essence, but prose takes the mould of the body and mind entire.
After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is the essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
For Spirits when they please Can either sex assume, or both; so soft And uncompounded is their essence pure, Not tied or manacled with joint or limb, Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones, Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure, Can execute their airy purposes, And works of love or enmity fulfil.
Science proceeds by successive answers to questions more and more subtle, coming nearer and nearer to the very essence of phenomena.
How beautiful is all this visible world! How glorious in its action and itself! But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we, Half dust, half deity, alike unfit To sink or soar, with our mixed essence make A conflict of its elements, and breathe The breath of degradation and of pride.
Browse dictionary entries near essence
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