Existence
[ɪg'zɪst(ə)ns;eg-] or [ɪɡ'zɪstəns]
Definition
(n.) The state of existing or being; actual possession of being; continuance in being; as, the existence of body and of soul in union; the separate existence of the soul; immortal existence.
(n.) Continued or repeated manifestation; occurrence, as of events of any kind; as, the existence of a calamity or of a state of war.
(n.) That which exists; a being; a creature; an entity; as, living existences.
Editor: Lorna
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Being, entity.[2]. Life, animation.[3]. Continuance, duration.
Typist: Ludwig
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Being, entity, creature
ANT:Nonentity, non-existence, chimera
Edited by Lenore
Examples
- A struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at which all organic beings tend to increase. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Give my love to your aunt, George dear, and implore her not to curse the viper that has crossed your path and blighted your existence. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- A constitution of the Japanese type came into existence in 1909, making China a limited monarchy. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- My rescue from this kind of existence I considered quite hopeless, and abandoned, as such, altogether. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- This is what it is to live; he cried, now I enjoy existence! Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- She felt strange and inevitable, as if she were centred upon the pivot of all existence, there was no further reality. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Compared with the vast gilded void of Mrs. Hatch's existence, the life of Lily's former friends seemed packed with ordered activities. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I must part with you for my whole life: I must begin a new existence among strange faces and strange scenes. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- My existence will be simply unendurable to me, unless I do something towards clearing my character at once. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- But it means its continuation under conditions where it has much less justification for existence. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- But perhaps the world will doubt the existence of such an artiSt. What will they doubt? Plato. The Republic.
- Genoa and Venice, the only two remaining which can pretend to an independent existence, have both been enfeebled by it. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Women, after all, gentlemen,' said the enthusiastic Mr. Snodgrass, 'are the great props and comforts of our existence. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- A few men, philosophers or lovers of wisdom--or truth--may by study learn at least in outline the proper patterns of true existence. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Until the beginning of 1882 there were only a few arc-lighting stations in existence for the limited distribution of current. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- She had always accepted with philosophic calm the fact that such existences as hers were pedestalled on foundations of obscure humanity. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- But no connexions among distinct existences are ever discoverable by human understanding. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- If perceptions are distinct existences, they form a whole only by being connected together. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
Edited by Abraham