essentia

Latin

Etymology

An analogical formation based on esse (“to be”), present active infinitive of sum (“I am”), coined by Cicero to translate Ancient Greek οὐσία (ousía).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /esˈsen.ti.a/, [ɛs̠ˈs̠ɛn̪t̪iä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /esˈsen.t͡si.a/, [esˈsɛnt̪͡s̪iä]

Noun

essentia f (genitive essentiae); first declension

1. essence, being

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	essentia	essentiae
Genitive	essentiae	essentiārum
Dative	essentiae	essentiīs
Accusative	essentiam	essentiās
Ablative	essentiā	essentiīs
Vocative	essentia	essentiae

Derived terms

• essentiālis
• essentiāliter
• quinta essentia

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: есе́нция (eséncija)
• Catalan: essència
• → Czech: esence
• → Danish: essens
• → Dutch: essentie
• → English: essence
• Esperanto: esenco
• French: essence
  • → Dutch: essence
  • → Finnish: esanssi
  • → Romanian: esență
  • → Turkish: esans
  • → Vietnamese: ét-xăng
• Friulian: essence
• → Galician: esencia
• → German: Essenz
• → Hungarian: eszencia
• Italian: essenza
  • → Maltese: essenza
• Occitan: esséncia
• Piedmontese: essensa
• → Polish: esencja
• → Portuguese: essência
• → Russian: эссе́нция (essɛ́ntsija)
• → Serbo-Croatian: есѐнција, esèncija
• → Slovak: esencia
• → Slovene: esenca
• Spanish: esencia
• → Swedish: essens

References

• “essentia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• essentia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• essentia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette