essence
essence is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 6 senses, and appears in Roget's Thesaurus (1911) with 40 related terms. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.
Definitions
- 1.The constituent quality or qualities which belong to any object, or class of objects, or on which they depend for being what they are (distinguished as real essence); the real being, divested of all logical accidents; that quality which constitutes or marks the true nature of anything; distinctive character; hence, virtue or quality of a thing, separated from its grosser parts. The laws are at present, both in form and essence, the greatest curse that society labors under. Landor. Gifts and alms are the expressions, not the essence of this virtue [charity]. Addison. The essence of Addison's humor is irony. Courthope.
- 2.Constituent substance. And uncompounded is their essence pure. Milton.
- 3.A being; esp., a purely spiritual being. As far as gods and heavenly essences Can perish. Milton. He had been indulging in fanciful speculations on spiritual essences, until . . . he had and ideal world of his own around him. W. Irving.
- 4.The predominant qualities or virtues of a plant or drug, extracted and refined from grosser matter; or, more strictly, the solution in spirits of wine of a volatile or essential oil; as, the essence of mint, and the like. The . . . word essence . . . scarcely underwent a more complete transformation when from being the abstract of the verb "to be," it came to denote something sufficiently concrete to be inclosed in a glass bottle. J. S. Mill.
- 5.Perfume; odor; scent; or the volatile matter constituting perfume. Nor let the essences exhale. Pope.
- 6.To perfume; to scent. "Essenced fops." Addison.
Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
Synonyms
Related terms (Roget's 1911)
- act
- acute
- aeration
- aerial
- aerification
- aeriform
- aerodynamics
- aerostatics
- agalloch
- air
- airy
- alkali
- ambrosial
- ammonia
- ammoniacal
- animal
- aroma
- aromatic
- attar
- balm
- balmy
- bay
- bergamot
- bladder
- bloodhound
- bottle
- bouquet
- calambac
- calambour
- civet
- cloud
- diffuse
- effluvium
- elastic
- emanation
- embalm
- emit
- essential
- ether
- ethereal
Source: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
Related questions
Reverse-dictionary questions
Definition-first questions whose answer is essence.
Sources
- Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Synonyms & antonyms: Roget's Thesaurus, 1911 edition (public domain, via Project Gutenberg eBook #10681).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/word/essence
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