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exsistentialis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exsistentialis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1st half of 4th century AD, Marius Victorinus
Ultimate origin
Latin exsistentia
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sisto
Latin exsistentia
French existence
Latin exsistentialis
From the same root
Latin armistitium ← sisto
Latin circumsisto ← sisto
Latin iustitium ← sisto
Latin solstitium ← sisto

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛks.sɪs.tɛn.tiˈaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eks.sis.ten.t͡siˈaː.lis][1]

Forms

exsistentiālis (neuter exsistentiāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] Also spelled ⟨existentiālis⟩.[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin exsistentia (“existence”) + -ālis.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears first in the 4th century: Marius Victorinus, in his books against Arius, calls the Father actual existence and the Son āctus exsistentiālis, existential act,[4][3][2] and Candidus speaks of a potentia exsistentiālis.[4]

Semantic evolution

It means “relating to existence”.[4][3][5] Victorinus also has the adverb exsistentiāliter, “in the manner of existence”, set against inexsistentiāliter,[4] and the TLL records the noun exsistentiālitās.[4] In the Historia tripartita of Cassiodorus a sect of Arians, the followers of Aetius, who taught that the Son was made from things that do not exist, are called the ex nōn exsistentiālēs.[4] English existential was taken from the Late Latin word in the 1690s, in the sense “pertaining to existence”.[6]

Timeline

  • 1st half of 4th century AD – Marius Victorinus calls the Son an existential act.[4][2]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – The Historia tripartita of Cassiodorus names an Arian sect with it.[4][2]
  • 1690s – English borrows existential.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Late Latin) Relating to existence, existential.[4][3][5][1]

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) ex nōn exsistentiālēs (plural): a name given to a sect of Arians, the followers of Aetius.[4]

Word family

  • exsistentiāliter
  • exsistentiālitās
  • English existential

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Exsistentialis.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exsistentialis. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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