| 释义 |
ex·is·tence
\-tən(t)s\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin existentia, exsistentia state or fact of having being, from Latin existent-, exsistent-, existens, exsistens + -ia -y
1. obsolete : reality or actuality as opposed to appearance
2.
a. : the state or fact of having being especially as considered independently of human consciousness and as contrasted with nonexistence
< the existence of other worlds >
b. : the manner of being that is common to every mode of being : the state common to physical objects, living beings, objects of thought, and anything else
< both of noumena and of phenomena we may affirm simple existence — J.S.Mill >
3.
a. : being with reference to some limiting condition or under a particular aspect (as a mode of being, determined being, or a manner of existing)
< the existence of a fictive world >
b. : being as given in experience or in the act of experiencing:
(1) in scholasticism : being in its actuality as contrasted with its essence
(2) [translation of Danish eksistens & German existenz] in existentialism : the condition of man in his factuality characterized by a passionate self-consciousness and sense of responsibility in the face of contingency and freedom
4. : sentient or living being : life
< God, Nature, Self, are the fundamental facts of existence — Henry Sidgwick >
5. : continued or repeated manifestation : actual or present occurrence
< existence of a state of war >
6. : something that exists: as
a. : the totality of being
b. : a particular being, individual, or entity : existent
< concepts … are tyrants rather than servants when treated as real existences — B.N.Cardozo > |