existence

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪɡˈzɪs.təns/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English existence,^[2] borrowed from Old French existence,^[3][4][5] from Medieval Latin existentia, exsistentia “the state of having being”,^[3][2] from existēns, present participle of Latin exsistere “to stand forth, emerge, appear; to come into being, exist”,^[3][4] from ex “forth” and sistere “to cause to stand, take a stand”,^[3][4] a reduplicated form of Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand”).^[3] It is related to exist and assist.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Reality, as opposed to appearance: about 1384 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline; the sense is obsolete.^[6][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Being, the fact or state of existing, is from about 1430,^[6] late Middle English in SOED.^[5] Continued being as a living creature, life, sometimes in a disparaging sense as in a miserable existence, is from 1634,^[6] and continuance in being from 1736.^[6] Something that exists, an entity, is from 1605,^[6] and all that exists from 1751.^[6] A mode of existing is from before 1763.^[6] The French words existence and apparence were often opposed, which explains the early sense “reality”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – reality (obsolete).^[6]
• c. 1430 – the state of existing.^[6]
• 1605 – an entity.^[6]
• 1634 – life.^[6]
• 1751 – all that exists.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The fact or state of existing; being.
2. Continued being; life, especially of a particular kind: a lonely existence.
3. All that exists.
4. Something that exists; an entity.

Word family

• coexistence
• inexistence
• nonexistence
• postexistence
• preexistence

Related words

• exist
• existential
• assist
• consist
• insist

Usage notes

Existence, actuality and being all denote the fact or state of existing.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin