essence

American  

[es-uhns] / ˈɛs əns /

noun

• essences
  plural

1. the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing or its significant individual feature or features.

   Freedom is the very essence of our democracy.

   Synonyms:

   core, soul, principle, heart, lifeblood, spirit, substance

2. a substance obtained from a plant, drug, or the like, by distillation, infusion, etc., and containing its characteristic properties in concentrated form.

3. an alcoholic solution of an essential oil; spirit.

4. a perfume; scent.

5. Philosophy. the inward nature, true substance, or constitution of anything, as opposed to what is accidental, phenomenal, illusory, etc.

6. something that exists, especially a spiritual or immaterial entity.

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idioms

1. of the essence, absolutely essential; critical; crucial.

   In chess, cool nerves are of the essence.

2. in essence, essentially; at bottom, often despite appearances.

   For all his bluster, he is in essence a shy person.

essence British  

/ ˈɛsəns /

noun

1. the characteristic or intrinsic feature of a thing, which determines its identity; fundamental nature

2. the most distinctive element of a thing

   the essence of a problem

3. a perfect or complete form of something, esp a person who typifies an abstract quality

   he was the essence of gentility

4. philosophy

   1. the unchanging and unchangeable nature of something which is necessary to its being the thing it is; its necessary properties Compare accident

   2. the properties in virtue of which something is called by its name

   3. the nature of something as distinct from, and logically prior to, its existence

5. theol an immaterial or spiritual entity

6. 1. the constituent of a plant, usually an oil, alkaloid, or glycoside, that determines its chemical or pharmacological properties

   2. an alcoholic solution of such a substance

7. a substance, usually a liquid, containing the properties of a plant or foodstuff in concentrated form

   vanilla essence

8. a rare word for perfume

9. essentially; fundamentally

10. indispensable; vitally important

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-essence
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• essences
  plural

Etymology

Origin of essence

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English essencia, from Medieval Latin, from Latin essentia, equivalent to esse + -ence

Explanation

Essence is whatever most sums up the heart and soul of something, its truest most indispensable qualities. The essence of Las Vegas is poker chips and dreams; the essence of Johnny Cash is black clothing and country music. Essence can be a physical detail, or, just as commonly, the abstract idea or meaning of something. The essence of Lady Chatterly's Lover might be its revolutionary eroticism, or the essence of religion its devotion to God. Essence can also mean the concentrate obtained from a flower or plant for flavoring. If you've chewed strawberry-flavored bubblegum you're probably amazed at how it truly is the very essence of strawberries.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

essence essences

"In essence, we have built a light-driven nanorobot that can track down and collect bacteria," says Jin Qin, lead experimental scientist of the study.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026

MLB rosters are set at 26 players, but it seems the Dodgers are playing with, in essence, 28 to 30 men each week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

McMenamin said he never imagined Skintown would be turned into a film and was proud to put his hometown and the essence of it on the big screen.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

"Timely intervention and salvaging the oil tanker is of essence to prevent worse," Zwijnenburg said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

The essence of Darwin’s disruptive genius was his ability to think about nature not as fact—but as process, as progression, as history.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

"One of the essences of this game is being able to figure out different ways of using each of these echoes," he says.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2024

Further, although chemically derived vanilla essences are available cheaply, they do not match the flavor of natural vanilla extract, and the demand for the latter continues to remain high.

From Science Daily ● May 16, 2024

The exhibition also includes tools for cutting and pressing the plants and extracting their essential essences.

From Reuters ● May 30, 2023

Inside Aftel's atelier and museum, one is immediately engulfed by the artist's "scent organ," comprised of hundreds of bottles in rows filled with essences.

From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2022

For Plato, the sublunary world was a distorted projection of the world of essences.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Related Words

• aspect
• basis
• bottom line
• character
• core
• crux
• element
• lifeblood
• meaning
• nature
• principle
• quality
• reality
• root
• soul
• spirit
• structure
• substance