Etymologically
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existential

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/[1]
  • US: /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛn(t)ʃəl/, /ˌɛksɪ-/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin existentiālis, also exsistentiālis (“coming into being, relating to existence”),[2][3][4][5] from existentia (“existence”),[2][3][6] the source of existence, from Latin exsistō (“to stand forth, emerge; to exist”),[3] formed from ex- (“forth”) and sistō (“to cause to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand”).[3] The logical sense follows German Existentialsatz (“existential proposition”) (1796),[2] and the philosophical sense existentiell, itself after the Danish of Kierkegaard.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to existence: 1656, in P. K.'s Surfeit to A B C.[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1690s,[3] and Merriam-Webster's first known use is 1693.[4]

Semantic evolution

In logic the word was used from 1797, in a translation of J. S. Beck, of a proposition that asserts that something exists;[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1819.[3] The sense "concerned with individual human existence" came in 1873, in a translation of Martensen's Christian Ethics,[2] and was later tied to existentialism, which Etymonline traces to Kierkegaard and dates in English philosophy from 1937.[3][2]

Timeline

  • 1656 – of or relating to existence.[2]
  • 1693 – first known use in Merriam-Webster.[4]
  • 1797 – of a proposition, asserting existence.[2]
  • 1873 – concerned with individual human existence.[2]
  • 1937 – in existentialist philosophy, according to Etymonline.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to existence, especially human existence: The war posed an existential threat to the small republic.[7][4][2]
  2. Relating to existentialism or its view of the individual as free and responsible.[7][2]
  3. (logic) Asserting that something exists, as an existential quantifier does.[7][4][6]
  4. (philosophy) Known through experience rather than reason; empirical.[7]

Noun

  1. (logic) An existential statement or formula, or an existential quantifier.[7]

Word family

  • existentially
  • existentialism
  • existentialist
  • nonexistential
  • existential quantifier

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins