Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

essence

es.sence \'es-*n(t)s\ n [ME, fr. MF & L; MF, fr. L essentia, fr. esse to be 
   - more at ]IS 1a: the permanent as contrasted with the accidental element 
   of being  1b: the individual, real, or ultimate nature of a thing esp. as 
   opposed to  its existence 1c: the property necessary to the nature of a 
   thing  1d: the most significant property of a thing  2: something that 
   exists : ENTITY  3a1: a volatile substance or constituent (as of perfume)  
   3a2: a constituent or derivative (as an extract or essential oil) possessin 
   g the special qualities (as an alcoholic solution) of such an essence or a 
   synthetic substitute 3b: ODOR, PERFUME  3c: something that resembles an 
   extract in possessing a quality in concentr ated form