'Essence' definitions:
Definition of 'essence'
From: WordNet
noun
The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" [syn: kernel, substance, core, center, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty-gritty]
noun
Any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted
noun
The central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work [syn: effect, essence, burden, core, gist]
noun
A toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor [syn: perfume, essence]
Definition of 'Essence'
From: GCIDE
- Essence \Es"sence\, n. [F. essence, L. essentia, formed as if fr. a p. pr. of esse to be. See Is, and cf. Entity.]
- 1. The constituent elementary notions which constitute a complex notion, and must be enumerated to define it; sometimes called the nominal essence. [1913 Webster]
- 2. 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. [1913 Webster]
- The laws are at present, both in form and essence, the greatest curse that society labors under. --Landor. [1913 Webster]
- Gifts and alms are the expressions, not the essence of this virtue [charity]. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- The essence of Addison's humor is irony. --Courthope. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Constituent substance. [1913 Webster]
- And uncompounded is their essence pure. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 4. A being; esp., a purely spiritual being. [1913 Webster]
- As far as gods and heavenly essences Can perish. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- He had been indulging in fanciful speculations on spiritual essences, until . . . he had and ideal world of his own around him. --W. Irving. [1913 Webster]
- 5. 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. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 6. Perfume; odor; scent; or the volatile matter constituting perfume. [1913 Webster]
- Nor let the essences exhale. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Essence'
From: GCIDE
Synonyms of 'essence'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- affective meaning,
- ambergris,
- ambrosia,
- aroma,
- aromatic,
- aromatic gum,
- aromatic water,
- artifact,
- aspect,
- at bottom,
- attar,
- attar of roses,
- attribute,
- au fond,
- axiom,
- balm,
- balm of Gilead,
- balsam,
- basically,
- basis,
- bay oil,
- be-all and end-all,
- bearing,
- being,
- bench mark,
- bergamot oil,
- best part,
- better part,
- body,
- bottom,
- brainchild,
- breath,
- bulk,
- burden,
- cardinal point,
- case,
- center,
- champaca oil,
- chapter,
- chief thing,
- child,
- civet,
- climax,
- coinage,
- coloring,
- composition,
- concentrate,
- concentration,
- concern,
- concoction,
- connotation,
- consequence,
- core,
- cornerstone,
- creation,
- creature,
- crisis,
- critical,
- critical point,
- crowning achievement,
- crucial,
- crux,
- decoction,
- definite odor,
- denotation,
- detectable odor,
- distillate,
- distillation,
- drift,
- effect,
- effluvium,
- element,
- elixir,
- emanation,
- end product,
- ens,
- entity,
- esse,
- essential,
- essential matter,
- essential oil,
- essentiality,
- essentially,
- exhalation,
- existence,
- extension,
- extract,
- extraction,
- fabric,
- fiber,
- fixative,
- flavor,
- flower,
- focus,
- focus of attention,
- focus of interest,
- force,
- form,
- fragrance,
- fruit,
- fume,
- fundamental,
- fundamentally,
- generality,
- gist,
- grammatical meaning,
- gravamen,
- great point,
- handiwork,
- head,
- heading,
- heart,
- heliotrope,
- high point,
- hypostasis,
- idea,
- impact,
- implication,
- import,
- important,
- important thing,
- in effect,
- in essence,
- indispensable,
- infusion,
- inner essence,
- intension,
- invention,
- inwardness,
- issue,
- jasmine oil,
- kernel,
- keystone,
- landmark,
- lavender oil,
- lexical meaning,
- life,
- literal meaning,
- living issue,
- main body,
- main point,
- main thing,
- major part,
- majority,
- manufacture,
- marrow,
- mass,
- masterpiece,
- masterwork,
- material,
- material point,
- materiality,
- materially,
- matter,
- matter in hand,
- meaning,
- meat,
- medium,
- milestone,
- mintage,
- most,
- motif,
- motive,
- musk,
- myrcia oil,
- myrrh,
- nature,
- new mintage,
- nub,
- nubbin,
- nucleus,
- nuts and bolts,
- occurrence,
- odor,
- of the essence,
- offspring,
- opera,
- opus,
- opuscule,
- origination,
- outcome,
- outgrowth,
- overtone,
- parfum,
- perfume,
- perfumery,
- pertinence,
- pith,
- pivot,
- plurality,
- point,
- point at issue,
- point in question,
- postulate,
- practical consequence,
- presence,
- principle,
- problem,
- product,
- production,
- property,
- purification,
- purport,
- quality,
- question,
- quid,
- quiddity,
- quintessence,
- quintessential,
- range of meaning,
- real issue,
- real meaning,
- recap,
- recapitulation,
- redolence,
- reference,
- referent,
- refinement,
- relation,
- relevance,
- requisite,
- result,
- resume,
- rock bottom,
- root,
- rose oil,
- rubric,
- run-through,
- rundown,
- salient point,
- sap,
- savor,
- scent,
- scope,
- semantic cluster,
- semantic field,
- sense,
- significance,
- signification,
- significatum,
- signifie,
- sine qua non,
- smell,
- soul,
- span of meaning,
- spirit,
- spoor,
- stench,
- structural meaning,
- stuff,
- subject,
- subject matter,
- subject of thought,
- subsistence,
- substance,
- substantiality,
- substantially,
- substantive point,
- subtle odor,
- sum,
- sum and substance,
- summary,
- summation,
- symbolic meaning,
- tenor,
- text,
- texture,
- the bottom line,
- the nitty-gritty,
- the point,
- theme,
- thrust,
- timber,
- tincture,
- topic,
- totality of associations,
- trace,
- trail,
- transferred meaning,
- turning point,
- unadorned meaning,
- undertone,
- value,
- virtuality,
- virtually,
- vital,
- volatile oil,
- whiff,
- work