1. The fact or state of existing; being.
2. The fact or state of continued being; life: our brief existence on Earth.
3. 1. All that exists: sang the beauty of all existence.
   2. A thing that exists; an entity.
4. A mode or manner of existing: scratched out a meager existence.
5. Specific presence; occurrence: The Geiger counter indicated the existence of radioactivity.

SYNONYMS   existence, actuality, being. These nouns denote the fact or state of existing: laws in existence for centuries; an idea progressing from possibility to actuality; a point of view gradually coming into being.
ANTONYM  nonexistence

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.