Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That which in any sense is; an object; something that can be named and spoken of.
  • noun The same as first ens (which see, below).
  • An abbreviation of ensign.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Metaph.) Entity, being, or existence; an actually existing being; also, God, as the Being of Beings.
  • noun (Chem.), obsolete Something supposed to condense within itself all the virtues and qualities of a substance from which it is extracted; essence.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of en.
  • noun obsolete, metaphysics Entity, being, or existence; an actually existing being.
  • noun obsolete, chemistry Something supposed to condense within itself all the virtues and qualities of a substance from which it is extracted; essence.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin, ens ("thing"), entis ("thing"). See entity.

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