existentials

Adjective

existential (comparative more existential, superlative most existential)

1. Of or relating to existence.
   • The third univerſal is appetite; every perfect and imperfect living creature acquires ſuſtenance to eate and drink. For exiſtential or ſenſual, I grant many, that there is a Sun that ſhineth, that the fire heateth, &c. yet a blind man and the Paralytick denies both.1656, [attributed to Philip King], The Surfeit. To A B C, London: […] Edw[ard] Dod […], →OCLC, §. 4, page 33

   Antonyms:

   nonexistential

   1. Concerning the very existence of something, especially with regard to evading extinction.
      • an existential risk or threat
   2. Of an assertion, etc.: assuming or suggesting the existence of something.
      • In recent books on logic, distinction is made between two orders of inquiry concerning anything. First, what is the nature of it? how did it come about? what is its constitution, origin, and history? And second, What is its importance, meaning, or significance, now that it is once here? The answer...1902, William James, “Lecture I”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 4
2. Of or relating to existentialism (“a philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices”).
   • Some existential thinkers are concerned with artistic expression only indirectly, that is, they are passionately interested critics and analysts of art works.1967, Thomas [Louis] Hanna, “Albert Camus: Man in Revolt”, in George Alfred Schrader, Jr., editor, Existential Philosophers: Kierkegaard to Merleau-Ponty, New York, N.Y.; St. Louis, Mo.: McGraw-Hill...

   Antonyms:

   nonmetaphysical, nonphenomenal, noumenal

3. Relating to part of a clause that indicates existence (for example, there is).