Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The condition of not existing.
  • noun Something that does not exist.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Absence of existence; the negation of being.
  • noun A thing that has no existence or being.

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

  • noun The state of not existing; absence of existence; the negation of being; -- usually used with reference to existince in the real world, or logical possiblity.
  • noun A thing that has no existence.

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

  • noun The state of not existing.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state of not existing

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Of course, the kobold’s nonexistence is no reason to stop playing the game …

    Matthew Yglesias » The New Atheism 2007

  • This cessation itself, although something effected, is of the nature of that kind of nonexistence which results from the destruction of something existent, and as such does not pass away.

    The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Ramanuja — Sacred Books of the East, Volume 48 George Thibaut 1881

  • I'm tired with all these liars telling me that atheism is a belief in "nonexistence" etc.

    Atheist Blogs Aggregated 2008

  • In a fundamental way, they're right: Even if science cannot prove negatives like the nonexistence of God, it does provide an alternative framework for understanding the universe that doesn't require divine inspiration.

    Cody Gault: America's Creationism Problem Cody Gault 2011

  • In a fundamental way, they're right: Even if science cannot prove negatives like the nonexistence of God, it does provide an alternative framework for understanding the universe that doesn't require divine inspiration.

    Cody Gault: America's Creationism Problem Cody Gault 2011

  • Terrorists were a victim of their own success on 9/11; I think a big factor in the nonexistence/infrequency of attacks on American soil is that they feel like it has to be an impressive attack.

    Matthew Yglesias » The Conservative Terror Timeline 2010

  • She was generally pretty happy in the material world, so I could see how this next phase of her existence, or nonexistence, would be a good one.

    So Much Pretty Cara Hoffman 2011

  • A proof of the nonexistence of any particular finite sequence of digits in its decimal expansion would have as a corollary that pi is not normal.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Pi Day 2010

  • Drag Me to Hell is uninterested in the existence or nonexistence of demons; it is merely interested in mocking them, a not altogether impious enterprise: the humorous devil character -- along with the humorous mummery used to dispel him -- appears in the Book of Tobit.

    Movie Review: Drag Me to Hell 2009

  • Drag Me to Hell is uninterested in the existence or nonexistence of demons; it is merely interested in mocking them, a not altogether impious enterprise: the humorous devil character -- along with the humorous mummery used to dispel him -- appears in the Book of Tobit.

    Archive 2009-06-01 2009

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