haecceity
Syllables: haec·ce·i·tyUK/hɛkˈsiː.ə.tiː//hækˈsiː.ə.tiː/
haecceity noun: the essence of a particular thing that gives it its unique particularity; those qualities that make an individual this specific individual and not some other.
Noun
haecceity (countable and uncountable, plural haecceities)
- The essence of a particular thing that gives it its unique particularity; those qualities that make an individual this specific individual and not some other.
- He [Ignatius of Loyola] ſaith not this of ſome one Church, but of all; nor yet as of an accident proper to thoſe times of the Churches minority; but as of the Notes of every Churches Individuation or Hæcceity as they ſpeak. The Unity of the Church is characteriſed by One Altar, and One Biſhop with...1681, Richard Baxter, Church-history of the Government of Bishops and their Councils Abbreviated. Including the Chief Part of the Government of Christian Princes and Popes, and a True Account of the...
- HÆCCEITY [with Chymiſis] the ſame ſpecifick Eſſence or active Principle, by which a Medicine operates.[1731, N[athan] Bailey, “HÆCCEITY”, in An Universal Etymological English Dictionary: Comprehending the Derivations of the Generality of Words in the English Tongue, Either Ancient or Modern […] , 5th...
- Synonyms:
- thisness
haecceity meaning in Bengali
haecceity in Bengali
- বস্তুর স্বকীয়তা, নিজস্ব বৈশিষ্ট্য
Examples of haecceity in a sentence
- As has been argued, [Gottfried Wilhelm] Leibniz did not regard haecceity as able to play this role, but frequently mentioned substantial form as a principle both of unity and activity.1993, Studia Leibnitiana, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, →OCLC, page 51:
- Being asked to present our work in terms of 'technology' seems to somehow imply it as haecceity – as a graspable essence or entity, a 'this-ness'.2008, Mark Goulthorpe, The Possibility of (an) Architecture …: Collected Essays, Abingdon, Oxon.; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 75:
- A haecceity does not cut out a class of beings, but captures becomings in action.2013, Anne Sauvagnargues, translated by Samantha Bankston, Deleuze and Art, London; New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Academic, →ISBN, page 43:
Synonyms of haecceity
Forms of haecceity
| plural | haecceities |
|---|---|
| alternative form | hæcceity |
| alternative form | ecceity |
Origin of haecceity
From Medieval Latin haecceitas (“thisness”) coined by Duns Scotus (from haec (“this, these”)) + -ity.
Words formed from haecceity
Questions about haecceity
- What does haecceity mean?
- Haecceity means the essence of a particular thing that gives it its unique particularity; those qualities that make an individual this specific individual and not some other.
- What is haecceity in Bengali?
- Haecceity in Bengali is বস্তুর স্বকীয়তা, নিজস্ব বৈশিষ্ট্য. See Haecceity meaning in Bengali.
- How do you use haecceity in a sentence?
- As has been argued, [Gottfried Wilhelm] Leibniz did not regard haecceity as able to play this role, but frequently mentioned substantial form as a principle both of unity and activity.
- What part of speech is haecceity?
- Haecceity is a noun.
- How do you pronounce haecceity?
- Haecceity is pronounced /hɛkˈsiː.ə.tiː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of haecceity?
- The plural of haecceity is haecceities.
Words near haecceity in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: haecceity (page history and authors); haecceity (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-haecceity.ogg.
Cite this entry: “haecceity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/haecceity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.