Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “existence” come from?

Existence comes from Old French existentia, from Latin existentia (a noun formed with the suffix -ia from the Latin verb existere, meaning "to stand forth"), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European eǵ-.

existence (English): The state of being, existing, or occurring;...

Definitions

  1. The state of being, existing, or occurring;...

Ancestry of “existence”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchexistence—
2Late Latinexistentiaexistence
3LatinexistensAlternative form of exsistens
4Latinexisterepresent active infinitive of existō
5LatinexistoAlternative form of exsistō; to stand forth, come...
6LatinexA name of the letter "X"; out of, from
7Latincommūnicō—
8Latincommūnis—
9Old Latincom(m)oinis—
10Proto-Italickommoinis—
11Proto-Indo-Europeanḱom-moy-ni-held in common
12Proto-Indo-Europeanḱómbeside, near, by, with
13Proto-Indo-EuropeanḱeDeictic particle, here; Post-positional...
14Middle Englishkyt—
15Russianкитwhale; genitive plural of ки́та
16Old Church Slavonicкитъwhale
17Ancient Greekκῆτοςwhale, sea monster; abyss

Words derived from “existence”

  • coexistence
  • nonexistence
  • preexistence
  • inexistence
  • postexistence
  • existenceless
  • unexistence
  • self-existence
  • incoexistence
Every word from Ancient Greek κῆτος →