in esse
Americanadverb
adjective
Etymology
Origin of in esse
Latin, literally: in being
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To constitute an extraditable crime there must have been abandonment of a child in esse not merely in posse.
From Broken Homes A Study of Family Desertion and its Social Treatment by Joanna C. Colcord
Some of you may laugh at this suggestion, but it is an in posse, and it may easily be made an in esse.
From Samantha among the Brethren — Volume 7 by Marietta Holley
Mr. Crosbie said, that Lord Monboddo believed the existence of every thing possible; in short, that all which is in posse might be found in esse.
From Life of Johnson, Volume 5 Tour to the Hebrides (1773) and Journey into North Wales (1774) by James Boswell
But, alas, any good that may possibly inhere in the system has largely remained in posse rather than in esse.
From India, Its Life and Thought by John P. (John Peter) Jones
It is an omelet that cannot be made without breaking eggs, not only eggs in esse, but also eggs in posse.
From The Creed of the Old South 1865-1915 by Basil L. (Basil Lanneau) Gildersleeve
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
