quintessence

(kwĭn-tĕs'əns)
n.

1. The pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing.
2. The purest or most typical instance: the quintessence of evil.
3. In ancient and medieval philosophy, the fifth and highest essence after the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, thought to be the substance of the heavenly bodies and latent in all things.

[Middle English, from Old French quinte essence, fifth essence, from Medieval Latin quīnta essentia (translation of Greek pemptē ousiā) : Latin quīnta, feminine of quīntus, fifth + Latin essentia, essence; see essence.]

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noun

1. The most central and material part: core, essence, gist, heart, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, pith, root¹, soul, spirit, stuff, substance. Law gravamen. See be.
2. A basic trait or set of traits that define and establish the character of something: being, essence, essentiality, nature, substance, texture. See surface/depth.

n

Definition: essence, core
Antonyms: extra

(Latin, the fifth essence) In Aristotle, the fifth element, distinct from earth, fire, air and water, exempt from change and decay, and found only in celestial bodies.

IN BRIEF: The most essential part of anything. Also: The most perfect type of something.

The earth is the very quintessence of the human condition. — Hannah Arendt (1906-1975)

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For a list of words related to quintessence, see:

• Branches, Laws, Theories, and Techniques - quintessence: substance other than fire, air, water, or earth believed to compose celestial bodies in ancient and medieval philosophy; ether
• Notions, Ideas, and Methods - quintessence: essence of a substance; substance other than four elements believed to compose celestial bodies
• Enlightenment, Truth, and the Unknowable - quintessence: purest, most concentrated form or part, esp. of immaterial thing

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See words rhyming with "quintessence."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Quintessence.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - kvintessens

Nederlands (Dutch)
kern, kwintessens, essentie, het beste

Français (French)
n. - parfait exemple, quintessence

Deutsch (German)
n. - Quintessenz, Kern, Extrakt

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πεμπτουσία

Italiano (Italian)
quintessenza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - quinta-essência (f)

Русский (Russian)
квинтэссенция

Español (Spanish)
n. - quintaesencia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kvintessens, kärna, inbegrepp, korthand m fempar plus ett ess

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
精华, 第五元素, 典型

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 精華, 第五元素, 典型

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 정수, 본질, 전형, (고대 철학의) 제5원소

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 精, 第五元素

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) جوهر, مثالي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תמצית, דוגמה מושלמת, התגלמות, מופת, עיקר, היסוד החמישי (פילוסופיה של ימי-קדם)‬

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