Quintessence Definition

kwĭn-tĕsəns
noun
The pure, concentrated essence of anything.
Webster's New World
The purest or most typical instance.
The quintessence of evil.
American Heritage
In ancient and medieval philosophy, the fifth essence, or ultimate substance, of which the heavenly bodies were thought to be composed: distinguished from the four elements (air, fire, water, and earth)
Webster's New World
The most nearly perfect or most typical manifestation of a quality or thing.
Webster's New World
A form of dark energy due to a hypothetical scalar field that permeates all space, the energy density of which varies across space and time, in contrast to the cosmological constant.
American Heritage
Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Quintessence

Noun

Singular:
quintessence
Plural:
quintessences

Origin of Quintessence

  • Middle English from Old French quinte essence fifth essence from Medieval Latin quīnta essentia (translation of Greek pemptē ousiā) Latin quīnta feminine of quīntus fifth penkwe in Indo-European roots Latin essentia essence essence

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin quinta essentia "fifth essence".

    From Wiktionary

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