(Homonym: corps).
1. The center of an object.
2. The central part of the earth.
3. The region of a nuclear reactor containing the fissile material where the reaction takes place.
4. A small group of indispensable persons or things; SYN. nucleus, core group.
5. A rod of magnetic material (as soft iron) that passes through a coil and serves to increase the inductance of the coil.
6. A cylindrical sample of soil or rock obtained with a hollow drill.

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.

ETYM Old Eng. harte, herte, heorte, AS. heorte.
(Homonym: hart).
1. The locus of feelings and intuitions; SYN. bosom.
2. The courage to carry on; SYN. mettle, nerve, spunk.<br /> 3. An inclination or tendency of a certain kind; SYN. spirit.
4. A playing card in the major suit of hearts.
5. A firm rather dry variety meat (usually beef or veal).
6. A shape with rounded sides curving inward at the top and intersecting at the bottom; conventionally used on playing cards and valentines.

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.

ETYM Latin, a kernel, dim. from nux, nucis, nut. Related to Newel post.
In biology, the central, membrane-enclosed part of a eukaryotic cell, containing the chromosomes.
1. The positively charged dense center of an atom.
2. A part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction; SYN. cell nucleus.
3. (Astronomy) The center of the head of a comet; consists of small solid particles of ice and frozen gas that vaporizes on approaching the sun to form the coma and tail.

ETYM Old Eng. nute, note, as. hnutu; akin to Dutch noot, German nuss, Old High Germ. nuz, Icel. hnot, Swed. nöt, Dan. nöd.
1. A small square or hexagonal metal block with internal screw thread to be fitted onto a bolt.
2. A hard problem or undertaking; core, heart.
3. A perforated block usually of metal that has an internal screw thread and is used on a bolt or screw for tightening or holding something.
4. The ridge in a stringed instrument (as a violin) over which the strings pass on the upper end of the fingerboard.
5. A small lump (as of butter).
6. A foolish, eccentric, or crazy person; enthusiast.

ETYM as. pitha; akin to Dutch pit pith, kernel, lg. peddik. Related to Pit a kernel.
1. A usually continuous central strand of spongy tissue in the stems of most vascular plants that probably functions chiefly in storage.
2. Soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants.
3. The soft or spongy interior of a part of the body.
4. The essential part; core; substantial quality (as of meaning).
5. Importance.

ETYM Old Eng. summe, somme, Old Fren. sume, some, French somme, Latin summa, from summus highest, a superlative from sub under. Related to Sub-, Supreme.<br /> (Homonym: some).
1. A quantity obtained by addition; SYN. amount, total.
2. A quantity of money; SYN. sum of money, amount, amount of money.
3. The final aggregate; SYN. sum total.
4. The whole; SYN. total, totality, aggregate.

The nucleus of deuterium; consists of one proton and one neutron; used as a bombarding particle in accelerators.
Nucleus of an atom of deuterium (heavy hydrogen). It consists of one proton and one neutron, and is used in the bombardment of chemical elements to synthesize other elements.
A positively charged particle consisting of a proton and a neutron, equivalent to the nucleus of an atom of deuterium.

See Apothegm.

ETYM Latin compendiosus.
Briefly giving the gist of something; SYN. compact, succinct, summary.
Concise but comprehensive.

ETYM AS. crisp, from Latin crispus; cf. carpere to pluck, card (wool), and Eng. harvest. Related to Crape.
1. Tender and brittle; SYN. crispy.
2. Brief and to the point; effectively cut short; SYN. curt, laconic, terse.
3. In small tight curls; SYN. frizzly, frizzy, kinky, nappy.
4. Pleasantly cold and invigorating; ('parky' is a British term); SYN. frosty, nipping, nippy, snappy, parky.
5. Pleasingly firm and fresh and making a crunching noise when chewed; SYN. firm, crunchy.
6. (Of something seen or heard) Clearly defined; SYN. sharp.

1. Constituting or like a nucleus
2. (Of power and warfare and weaponry) Using atomic energy; SYN. atomic.
3. (Physics) Pertaining to nuclear fission or fusion.
4. (Biology) Pertaining to a cell's nucleus

Concise and full of meaning; SYN. sententious.

ETYM Latin sentenciosus: cf. French sentencieux.
Abounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing.
Full of meaning; aphoristic; tending to moralize.

ETYM Latin succinctus, p. p. of succingere to gird below or from below, to tuck up; sub + cingere to gird. Related to Cincture.
1. Precise; compressed into few words.
2. Tending to produce concise statements.
Concise; curt.

Witty remark; SYN. crack, sally, quip.

In a compendious way, in brief, in short, in summary