The state or fact of existing:; SYN. beingness, existence.
In philosophy, the basic state of existence shared by everything and everybody. Being is a fundamental notion in ontology and metaphysics generally, but particularly in idealism and existentialism.
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle insisted that to say something exists adds nothing to its description. Being or existence is sometimes distinguished from subsistence, as by Austrian philosopher Alexius Meinong (1853–1920). Idealist philosophers tend to believe that there are not only different kinds but also different degrees of being. The American Willard Quine holds that “to be is to be the value of a variable” in a system of formal logic—that is, that to be or exist is always to have a quality or feature. The ontological argument for the existence of God turns on whether being can be a predicate or property. + prikaži više

ETYM Late Lat. entitas, from Latin ens, entis, thing, prop. p. pr. of esse to be: cf. French entité. Related to Essence, Is.
Anything having existence (living or nonliving); SYN. something.

ETYM French essence, Latin essentia, formed as if from a p. pr. of esse to be. Related to Is, Entity.
Any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted.
In philosophy, all that makes a thing what it is and is indispensable to the thing. Philosophers have often distinguished nominal essences from real essences. A nominal essence is a group of terms used to define a concept: thus, the nominal essence of the concept of a horse could be “anything that neighs and has a mane and four legs”. A real essence is either a group of universals objectively given in nature (this is also called a form) or (as in the work of John Locke) the underlying structure of an object; for example, its atomic structure. + prikaži više

ETYM Old Eng. kernel, kirnel, curnel, as. cyrnel, from corn grain. Related to Corn, Kern to harden.
(Homonym: colonel).
1. A single whole grain of a cereal.
2. The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience: SYN. substance, core, center, essence, gist, heart, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty-gritty.
3. The inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone; SYN. meat.
The inner, softer part of a nut, or of a seed within a hard shell. + prikaži više