self-existentadj.

1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. ii. v. 108 For instead of one God, he must confess an infinite number of Atoms to be Eternal, Self-existent, Immortal, Self-moving.

1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra i. i. §34 To suppose Body to be Self-Existent..is as absurd, as to suppose it to be Self-Movent.

1781 Ess. Nature & Existence Material World 183 They are totally separate in their nature, but conjoined by another eternal, self-existent, incorruptible Being called Unity.

1848 R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Incarnation (1852) vi. 147 The self-existent Godhead.

1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. ii. §11. 35 Those who cannot conceive a self-existent universe.

1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. vi. 84 Heracleitus..oscillates between the two conceptions of self-existent Being, as personal and as impersonal.

2008 R. Holloway Between Monster & Saint iv. 91 The maker was defined as being himself unmade: he was self-existent and without beginning or end.

1782 Ann. Reg. 1780 Hist. Europe 142/1 Property was not made by government, but government by and for it. The one is primary and self-existent; the other is secondary and derivative.

1812 Antigallican Monitor 22 Sept. 283/1 The Government of every self-existent State.

1874 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. X. xxvii. 538 The hatred of America as a self-existent state.

1984 Guardian (Nexis) 11 Oct. Critics have mostly agreed that a work of art is self-existent and independent, not to be evaluated by reference to an author's designs or intentions.

2003 M. B. Sandberg Living Pictures, Missing Persons iv. 82 The tableau..truly excelled in its ability to create the convincing impression of a self-existent fictional world.