Dictionary

essence

Etymology

From French essence, from Latin essentia, from an artificial formation of esse ("to be"), to translate Ancient Greek οὐσία, from ὤν, present participle of εἰμί ("I am, exist").

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈɛsəns/

Noun

essence

The inherent nature of a thing or idea.
- 1713 September 21, Joseph Addison, The Guardian, collected in The Works of the Late Right Honorable Joseph Addison, volume IV, Birmingham: John Baskerville, published 1761, page 263 ↗:
  CHARITY is a virtue of the heart, and not of the hands, ſays an old writer. Gifts and alms are the expreſſions, not the eſſence of this virtue.
(philosophy) The true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory.
Constituent substance.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗, lines 423–429:
  For Spirits when they pleaſe / Can either Sex aſſume, or both ; ſo ſoft / And uncompounded is their Eſſence pure, / Not ti’d or manacl’d with joynt or limb, / Nor founded on the brittle ſtrength of bones, / Like cumbrous fleſh […]
A being; especially, a purely spiritual being.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗, lines 132–139:
  And put to proof his high Supremacy, / Whether upheld by ſtrength, or Chance, or Fate, / Too well I ſee and rue the dire event, / That with ſad overthrow and foul defeat / Hath loſt us Heav’n, and all this mighty Hoſt / In horrible deſtruction laid thus low, / As far as Gods and Heav’nly Eſſences / Can Periſh.
A significant feature of something.
The concentrated form of a plant or drug obtained through a distillation process.
essence of Jojoba
An extract or concentrate obtained from a plant or other matter used for flavouring, or as a restorative.
- 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC ↗, page 78 ↗:
  She bathed the face of the sleeper with some essence, raised her in her arms, and called upon her name.
vanilla essence
Fragrance, a perfume.