existence French · revision 16684

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1330, Guillaume de Digulleville|origins=la sistō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''existence''' ''f'' (plural existences)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|exsistentia|t=existence]],^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|3, 298b) from [[m|la|exsistō|t=to come forth, appear; to exist]] (see [[exister]]),^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) formed from [[m|la|ex-|t=out of]] and [[m|la|sistō|t=to set, be placed]], of the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*steh₂-|t=to stand]] also behind [[m|la|stō]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Guillaume de Digulleville's ''Pèlerinage de vie humaine'' (1330) uses it for the fact of existing, reality.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Voltaire (1734), answering Pascal, uses it for life considered in its length and content: ''notre existence n'est point si malheureuse qu'on veut nous le faire accroire''.^(TLFi) Madame de Genlis (1795) has it for a way of life (''déplorable existence'') and for the fact of being real to an observer (''l'existence de Célanire'').^(TLFi) In 20th-century philosophy it is opposed to essence (''l'existence précède l'essence'', Sartre).^(Petit Robert 2007) The verb [[exister]] is recorded from the 15th century and seems rare before the 17th.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1330 – “Fact of existing”, Guillaume de Digulleville.^(TLFi)

+ * 15th century – The verb [[exister]].^(TLFi)

+ * 1734 – “Life”, Voltaire.^(TLFi)

+ * 1795 – “Way of life”, Madame de Genlis.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|existence]], the fact of existing: ''l'existence de Dieu'', ''(philosophy)'' existence as opposed to essence.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # The fact of being present, real: ''constater l'existence d'un complot''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # [[m|en|life]], considered in its length or content: ''une existence heureuse'', ''moyens d'existence''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[existentiel]]

+ * [[existentialisme]]

+ * [[coexistence]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[exister]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}