ens

Forms

ēns n (genitive entis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sum (“to be”) + -ēns, made as a present participle of the verb to render Ancient Greek ὤν (ṓn, “being”).^[1][2][3] The old participle of ⟨sum⟩ was sōns, which had come to mean “guilty”; ⟨ēns⟩ was built with the bare ending ⟨-ēns⟩ of other verbs, as if the Greek participle were an ending alone, while the real participle survived in absēns and praesēns.^[1] Priscian reports that Caesar was the first to use it.^[2][4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quintilian has it for the Greek “that which is”, and the plural entia for the Greek “things that are”.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It remained a rare word of philosophy and grammar in antiquity: Boethius has it in his commentary on Porphyry, and Priscian discusses it.^[2] Wiktionary treats it as a Medieval Latin formation,^[1] and Köbler's first medieval instance is in John of Salisbury.^[5]

In scholastic philosophy Thomas Aquinas uses it of being in both its ontological and its logical sense, the opposite of nihil and non ens: on the one hand the being of a thing, which is divided into the ten categories and is convertible with res, on the other the truth of a proposition, as when one says that blindness “is” in the eye.^[6] British writers use it of a being or living thing, of God as summum ens, the highest being, and in ens rationis, a being of reason, as opposed to ens reale.^[7] Italian ente comes from it.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, for Greek “that which is”.^[2][4][5]
• 6th century AD – Priscian says Caesar first used it.^[2][4][5]
• c. 1160 – John of Salisbury.^[5]
• 3rd quarter of the 13th century – Thomas Aquinas, of being in its ontological and logical senses.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy) being, that which is; a thing.^[2][4][1][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) A being, a living thing;^[7] summum ens, the Supreme Being.^[7]
3. (Medieval Latin, logic) ens rationis, a being of reason, as opposed to ens reale.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) essence; existence.^[1][5]

Word family

• entitās

Related words

• essentia
• sōns
• absēns
• praesēns
• English entity

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
7. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson