non-existencen.
/ˌnɒnᵻɡˈzɪst(ə)ns/, U.S. /ˌnɑnəɡˈzɪst(ə)ns/ 1. The condition or fact of not existing; non-being.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun]
noughtOE
unbeing1435
non-beingc1443
nullity?1573
non esse1585
not-beinga1586
unexistence1593
nihilhood1602
non-essence?1605
inexistence1623
never-being1633
nonentity1643
non-existence1646
no-being1651
inexistency1660
nihility1678
cipherhooda1680
vacuitya1711
nothingness1766
nihilism1856
thinglessness1874
not-ness1933
nullness1949
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vii. 27 The omission hereof affords some probability it was not used by the Ancients, but will not conclude the nonexistence thereof. View more context for this quotation
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. iii. §3 A possibility of non-existence, or annihilation in a creature.
1728 J. Morgan Compl. Hist. Algiers I. vi. 175 Some I never heard of; tho' that is no Argument of their Non-Existence.
1772 Philos. Trans. 1771 (Royal Soc.) 61 146 The faith of a record attesting the existence of chestnut trees formerly..was surely not to be superseded by the non-existence of such trees at present.
1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. i. i. 3 Empires successively arose..and sunk into non-existence.
1854 K. H. Digby Compitum VII. iii. 255 Books of dogmatic scepticism, and expositions of the non-existence of virtue and honour.
1910 H. G. Wells Hist. Mr. Polly vii. 165 Mr. Polly felt himself the faintest underdeveloped simulacrum of man that had ever hovered on the verge of non-existence.
1991 Oxf. Jrnl. Legal Stud. 11 317 Let us assume that we agree with the atheist about the non-existence of God.
2. A non-existent thing; that which has no existence. Also hyperbolically: a thing which is negligible.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > that which is non-existent
naughtOE
nothing1535
nothingnessa1631
non-existence1646
nonentity1656
nihilation1695
nonent1885
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > that which is non-existent > a thing that does not exist
noughta1425
goat woola1522
goat's wool1550
non-ens1603
nonentity1604
non-existence1646
nothingness1652
non-existent1658
non-being1662
not-being1725
non-existenta1856
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iv. x. 20 A method of many Writers, which much depreciates the esteeme and value of miracles, that is, therewith to salve not onely reall verities, but also non-existences . View more context for this quotation
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 249 They were all made ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, from an antecedent Non-existence or Nothing, brought forth into Being.
1798 J. O'Keeffe Doldrum I. iii. 484 Seven years!—The lapse would be a non-existence!
1866 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 1st Ser. 230 An existence without predicates is a non-existence.
1892 J. Tait Mind in Matter (ed. 3) 74 Men are asked to believe that the whole dog and the whole pigeon..were produced from non-existence, by opportune additions to an invisible speck of living matter.
1965 Philos. Q. 15 52 Many non-existences are not only undiscovered but turn out to violate the known laws of nature.
1991 C. S. Friedman Black Sun Rising xxviii. 236 A wall of nonexistence, beneath which the water flows.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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