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existence

 - 3 dictionary results

ex⋅ist⋅ence

  [ig-zis-tuhns]
Use existence in a Sentence
–noun
1. the state or fact of existing; being.
2. continuance in being or life; life: a struggle for existence.
3. mode of existing: They were working for a better existence.
4. all that exists: Existence shows a universal order.
5. something that exists; entity; being.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < LL ex(s)istentia. See exist, -ence
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ex·is·tence   (ĭg-zĭs'təns)   
n.  

  1. The fact or state of existing; being.

  2. The fact or state of continued being; life: our brief existence on Earth.

    1. All that exists: sang the beauty of all existence.

    2. A thing that exists; an entity.

  4. A mode or manner of existing: scratched out a meager existence.

  5. Specific presence; occurrence: The Geiger counter indicated the existence of radioactivity.

Synonyms: These nouns denote the fact or state of existing: laws in existence for centuries; an idea progressing from possibility to actuality; a point of view gradually coming into being.
Antonym: nonexistence
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

existence 
c.1384, from O.Fr. existence, from L.L. existentem "existent," prp. of L. existere "stand forth, appear," and, as a secondary meaning, "exist;" from ex- "forth" + sistere "cause to stand" (see assist). Existential as a term in logic is from 1819. Existentialism is 1941 from Ger. Existentialismus (1919), ult. from Dan. writer Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55), who wrote (1846) of Existents-Forhold "condition of existence," existentielle Pathos, etc.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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