quintessence

[kwin-tes-uh ns]

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noun

the pure and concentrated essence of a substance.

the most perfect embodiment of something.

(in ancient and medieval philosophy) the fifth essence or element, ether, supposed to be the constituent matter of the heavenly bodies, the others being air, fire, earth, and water.

Origin of quintessence

1400–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin quīnta essentia fifth essence

Related formsquin·tes·sen·tial

[kwin-tuh-sen-shuh l] /ˌkwɪn təˈsɛn ʃəl/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for quintessence

apotheosis, heart, substance, gist, bottom, kernel, distillation, soul, pith, stuff, essentiality, ultimate, epitome, marrow, extract, spirit, lifeblood, quiddity, virtuality

Examples from the Web for quintessence

Contemporary Examples of quintessence

That, America, is the quintessence of naturally occurring British-cute.
UK’s No 1 Churchman Doubts Existence of God: The Archbishop of Canterbury Thinks Deep When Running With His Dog
Tim Teeman
September 18, 2014
The actor is the quintessence of smooth, first as Remington Steele, then James Bond.
Pierce Brosnan’s Life After Bond: From Action Hero to Losing His Daughter to Cancer
Tim Teeman
July 2, 2014
In recent years, Stoner entered a category of which it soon became the quintessence.
Famous for Not Being Famous: Enough About ‘Stoner’
Drew Smith
October 31, 2013
Yes, Holmes was the quintessence of the Victorian rationalism, “the most perfect and reasoning machine that the world had seen.”
How Sherlock Holmes Took on the Capitalists
Ian Klaus
December 21, 2011
“Innocence is the quintessence of the snapshot,” Lisette Model would write.
Robert Frank's America
Philip Gefter
September 17, 2009

Historical Examples of quintessence

To the man of the world they are the quintessence of his own reflections upon life.
Theaetetus
Plato
"This is the quintessence of my journalism; that is the supreme argument," he said to Antonia.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
The law of compensation itself is the quintessence of horse sense.
Dollars and Sense
Col. Wm. C. Hunter
Adams was a quintessence of Boston, devoured by curiosity to think like Benvenuto.
The Education of Henry Adams
Henry Adams
They are the very breath of democracy; the quintessence of freedom.
The Debs Decision
Scott Nearing

British Dictionary definitions for quintessence

quintessence

noun

the most typical representation of a quality, state, etc

an extract of a substance containing its principle in its most concentrated form

(in ancient and medieval philosophy) ether, the fifth and highest essence or element after earth, water, air, and fire, which was thought to be the constituent matter of the heavenly bodies and latent in all things

Word Origin for quintessence

C15: via French from Medieval Latin quinta essentia the fifth essence, translation of Greek pemptē ousia

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quintessence

early 15c., in ancient and medieval philosophy, "pure essence, substance of which the heavenly bodies are composed," literally "fifth essence," from Middle French quinte essence (14c.), from Medieval Latin quinta essentia, from Latin quinta, fem. of quintus "fifth" (see quinque-) + essentia (see Parousia).

A loan-translation of Greek pempte ousia, the "ether" added by Aristotle to the four known elements (water, earth, fire, air) and said to permeate all things. Its extraction was one of the chief goals of alchemy. Sense of "purest essence" (of a situation, character, etc.) is first recorded 1580s.