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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary es·sence ETYMOLOGY Middle English essencia, from Latin essentia, from esse to be — more at is DATE 14th century 1. a. the permanent as contrasted with the accidental element of being b. the individual, real, or ultimate nature of a thing especially as opposed to its existence a painting that captures the essence of the land c. the properties or attributes by means of which something can be placed in its proper class or identified as being what it is 2. something that exists : entity 3. a. (1) a volatile substance or constituent (as of perfume) (2) a constituent or derivative possessing the special qualities (as of a plant or drug) in concentrated form; also : a preparation of such an essence or a synthetic substitute b. odor , perfume 4. one that possesses or exhibits a quality in abundance as if in concentrated form she was the essence of punctuality 5. the most significant element, quality, or aspect of a thing or person the essence of the issue • • • - in essence - of the essence English Etymology essence late 14c., from L. essentia "being, essence," abstract n. formed in imitation of Gk. ousia "being, essence" (from on, gen. ontos,prp. of einai "to be"), from prp. stem of esse "to be," from PIE *es-(cf. Skt. asmi, Hittite eimi, O.C.S. jesmi, Lith. esmi, Goth. imi, O.E. eom "I am;" see be). Originally "substance of the Trinity," the general sense of "basic element of anything" is first recorded in English 1650s, though this is the base meaning of the first English use of essential (mid-14c.). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 essence es·sence / 5esns / noun1. [U] ~ (of sth) the most important quality or feature of sth, that makes it what it is 本质；实质；精髓: His paintings capture the essence of France. 他的画描绘出法国的神韵。 In essence (= when you consider the most important points), your situation isn't so different from mine. 从本质上讲,你我的情况并非相差很远。 2. [U, C] a liquid taken from a plant, etc. that contains its smell and taste in a very strong form 香精；精油: essence of rosewood 黄檀木香精 (BrE) coffee / vanilla / almond essence 咖啡/香草/杏仁香精 ⇨ see also extract IDIOMS ▪ of the 'essence necessary and very important 必不可少；非常重要: In this situation time is of the essence (= we must do things as quickly as possible). 在这种情况下,时间是至关重要的。 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English essence noun 1 basic/most important quality of sth ADJ. real, true, very VERB + ESSENCE capture, convey, embody, encapsulate, represent His paintings embody the very essence of the immediate post-war years. PREP. in ~ His theory was not new in essence. 2 concentrated substance ADJ. almond, vanilla, etc. QUANT. dash, drop Add a few drops of vanilla essence. VERB + ESSENCE add, use OLT essence noun ⇨ nature 1 (the essence of France)⇨ of the essence ⇨ essential adj. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged es·sence \ˈesən(t)s\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English essencia, essence, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French essence, from Latin essentia, from esse to be + -ent-, -ens -ent + -ia -y — more at is 1. : a basic underlying or constituting entity, substance, or form: as a. archaic : element 1a b. (1) : the permanent as contrasted with the accidental and variable and hence phenomenal phases or foundation of being :metaphysical substance especially when a substratum that is distinguished from and that supports attributes (2) : something that constitutes the individual, real, or ultimate nature or kind often as opposed to the existence of a being or thing < a picture of a tree should represent the essence of the tree — its ultimate or basic reality, that which makes it what it is, the thing-in-itself or in its intrinsic nature — Hunter Mead > < succeeds in conveying completely the cruel essence of loneliness — Arthur Knight > < came to the conclusion that the essence of heat was motion — S.F.Mason > < everything that one has seen or heard or thought or felt leaves a deposit that never filters entirely through the essence of mind — Ellen Glasgow > < not life in its humdrum, day-by-day existence, but life in its essence, exciting, meaningful, important — L.D.Rubin > also : the property, attribute, or element or totality of properties, attributes, or elements indispensable or necessary to the nature of a thing < what is individual, what is the peculiar essence of the man — T.S.Eliot > < the biographical story of its main character, not in the bulk of its million-fold detail but in its essence — Irving Stone > < the essence of liberalism — freedom of thought and inquiry, freedom of discussion and criticism — M.R.Cohen > < many of our people, … have forgotten the essence of Americanism — George Sokolsky > — see nominal essence, real essence (3) : an immanent form or metaphysical archetype : an Aristotelian formal cause : a Platonic idea c. (1) : the properties or attributes that every member of a species or class of things must necessarily have in order to belong to that species or class (2) : the totality of those properties or attributes that are indispensable to whatever can be named by a certain term or classified as of a certain class 2. obsolete : distinguishing nature or character 3. : condition or fact of being or existing : existence considered as a property of a thing 4. : something by which another is basically motivated or is maintained or by which it subsists < the enthusiasm of its personnel is the essence and life of any enterprise > < criticism that will keep in mind that the essence of a performance is the music as it was written — Saturday Review > < the camera work, which is the essence of the coverage … was a brilliant job — Gilbert Seldes > < a country where controversy is the essence of politics — Clifton Daniel > < the trend toward a herd state of which the essence is the denial of supreme value to the human individual — E.A.Mowrer > < the health of our people is the very essence of our vitality, our strength, and our progress as a nation — D.D.Eisenhower > 5. : entity ; especially : an abstract entity < the same true characterization which makes each person in the story an essence with whom spectators will identify themselves — Current Biography > < own little reviews tranquilly engaged in their endless and placid pursuit of poetry as a timeless essence — William Barrett > 6. a. (1) : the volatile matter constituting perfume (2) : perfume , odor , scent < the rice and shrimp in Venice, which breathed with the unmistakable essence of garlic — Horace Sutton > b. (1) : a volatile spirit (as petroleum spirit or gasoline) (2) : a substance resembling a volatile spirit < impregnate it with the volatile essence of their souls — J.G.Frazer > c. : aura , cachet < a special essence of authority — S.N.Behrman > < captured in words something of the pattern of life, its color or essence — Ernest Beaglehole > < the drenched condition of the two women seemed to draw into that little room a desolate melancholy essence composed of fallen leaves, muddy cart ruts, and clammy mist — J.C.Powys > 7. a. : the most significant element, attribute, quality, property, or aspect of a thing < it is the very essence of Machiavelli that in politics there is neither good nor evil, of a moral kind — Irving Kristol > < the essence of Scotland — highlands and lowlands, blue lochs and swift brown streams, grouse moors, tidy farmlands and wild sea cliffs — Alice Campbell > specifically : a central focal issue, argument, or point (as in a law case) upon which all other issues, arguments, or points depend or to which they are subordinate < what he could do superbly was to state a case or extract an essence in a few clear and compelling words — R.H.Rovere > < appellate argument is the most exacting and concentrated work … for it involves the presentation of the essence of a long trial in an hour or less — A.T.Vanderbilt > < the discernment and understanding with which he penetrates to the heart and essence of the problem — Margaret E. Hall > b. : a most significant element, attribute, quality, or property of a thing < speak of his paintings in terms of what they consider his Gallic essences — his sensuousness, his economy in putting his pictures into focus, his infinitely civilized feeling for color and the refinement of line — Janet Flanner > c. : the essential and most characteristic features of a thing < he believes that deceit and mistrust are the essence of human relationships — Bergen Evans > < attempts to capture the essence of our twenty-four-dollar island through extreme close-ups of thirty or more representative New York people — James Kelly > < managed to combine the essence of jazz, mountain music, and New England church music into one — Saturday Review > d. : center , core , pith < such attention to appearances and details rather than to true substance went to the very essence of the struggle — Time > < this takes us to the essence of national strategy — H.H.Arnold & I.C.Eaker > < here is the ethical essence of the treaty — the common resolve to preserve, strengthen, and make understood the very basis of tolerance, restraint, and freedom — Dean Acheson > 8. a. (1) : a substance considered to possess in high degree the predominant qualities or virtues of a plant, drug, or other natural product from which it is extracted (as by distillation or infusion) (2) : an extract (as from fruit) used as flavoring in cooking (3) : the concentrated juices of foods obtained in the process of cooking b. (1) : essential oil (2) : an alcoholic solution especially of an essential oil : spirit 21 < essence of peppermint > (3) : an artificial preparation (as an alcoholic solution of one or more esters) used especially in flavoring < pineapple essence > (4) : elixir 2 < pepsin essence > 9. : something that resembles or suggests an extract in possessing the quality, virtue, or value of an original larger substance or thing in concentrated form < it is an essence, a distillation, the very best of all our past reduced, not to a list of physical sights, but to a single emotion — Jerome Weidman > < this spot is the heart and essence of the Green mountains — Carl Brandt > < the heroine who, in the hands of less eminent novelists, appeared to be the essence of sentimentality — C.W.Cunnington > • - in essence - of the essence |
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