ens en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈɛnz/ (UK)
Etymology
From Late Latin ēns (“thing”), from esse (“to be”). See entity.
Meanings
-
An entity or being; an existing thing, as opposed to a quality or attribute.
Forms sphered in fire with trembling light array'd, / Ens without weight, and substance without shade […].
1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 41:the Nature of the Supreme Ens
1860, John Henry Macmahon, A treatise on metaphysics: chiefly in reference to revealed religion, page 195:
-
(historical) Something supposed to condense within itself all the virtues and qualities of a substance from which it is extracted; an essence, an active principle.
Here he states that there are five ‘active principles’ – the five Enses or entia – that influence our bodies and give rise to disease […]
2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow, published 2007, page 245:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| enses | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| entia | Number=Plur | lexicographic |