Etymologically
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existence

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Reality, as opposed to appearance: about 1384 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline; the sense is obsolete.[6][3][5]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

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