exist
[ig-zist]
- to have actual being; be: The world exists, whether you like it or not.
- to have life or animation; live.
- to continue to be or live: Belief in magic still exists.
- to have being in a specified place or under certain conditions; be found; occur: Hunger exists in many parts of the world.
- to achieve the basic needs of existence, as food and shelter: He's not living, he's merely existing.
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Origin of exist
Synonyms
See more synonyms for exist on Thesaurus.com3. survive, persist, last, endure, stay, remain.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for existing
Contemporary Examples
He also wants to “replace every existing organism with a better one.”
In short, the existing data makes fracking seem like a judgment call.
In The Affair, “the others” are the existing partners and even the children that Noah and Helen have, much-loved as they are.
How Will They End ‘The Affair’? Showtime’s Adultery Drama Defies PredictabilityTim Teeman
December 11, 2014
Every possible outcome—them together, them staying with their existing partners—seems only likely to bring misery.
How Will They End ‘The Affair’? Showtime’s Adultery Drama Defies PredictabilityTim Teeman
December 11, 2014
Their new Virtual Joey app turns your existing PlayStation 3—and soon PS4—into its very own DVR.
New Innovations Let You Watch TV Anywhere You GoDecember 8, 2014
Historical Examples
It is viewed in some of them as an essential prop to existing governments.
The fate of Owthorne, a village once existing not far from Withernsea, is pathetic.
Yorkshire Painted And DescribedGordon Home
The enclosure now existing has no reference to the outlines of the intrenchment.
Camps, Quarters and Casual PlacesArchibald Forbes
The action of existing causes and principles is steady and progressive.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
It was the sexless idea, existing by itself, that was rare and exquisite.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
exist
- to have being or reality; to be
- to eke out a living; stay alive; surviveI can barely exist on this wage
- to be living; live
- to be present under specified conditions or in a specified placesharks exist in the Pacific
- philosophy
- to be actual rather than merely possible
- to be a member of the domain of some theory, an element of some possible world, etc
- to have contingent being while free, responsible, and aware of one's situation
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin exsistere to step forth, from ex- 1 + sistere to stand
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for existing
exist
v.
c.1600, from French exister (17c.), from Latin existere/exsistere "to step out, stand forth, emerge, appear; exist, be" (see existence). "The late appearance of the word is remarkable" [OED]. Related: Existed; existing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper