quintessence
/kwɪnˈtɛs.əns/
quintessence noun: a thing that is the most perfect example of its type; the most perfect embodiment of something; epitome, prototype.
Noun
quintessence (countable and uncountable, plural quintessences)
- A thing that is the most perfect example of its type; the most perfect embodiment of something; epitome, prototype.
- As families and kindreds sometimes do; producing, after long ages of unnoted notability, some living quintescence of all the qualities they had, to flame forth as a man world-noted […]1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number)
- The Pagans did well enough; I cordially admire the refinement of their minds; but it has been reserved for a Christian country to attain this extreme, this quintessence, this absolute of poignancy.1877–1880, Robert Louis Stevenson, “(please specify the page)”, in New Arabian Nights […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chatto & Windus, […], published 1882, →OCLC
- A pure substance.
- Synonyms:
- distillation, simple
- The essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form.
- For vvhat is ſilke but eu'n a Quinteſſence, / Made vvithout hands beyond al humane ſenſe? / A quinteſſence? nay vvel it may be call'd, / A deathleſſe tincture, ſent vs from the skies, / VVhoſe colour ſtands, vvhose gloſſe is ne're appalld, […]1599, T[homas] M[offett], The Silkewormes, and Their Flies: […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Nicholas Ling, […], →OCLC, pages 67–68
- Let ther be Light, ſaid God, and forthwith Light, / Ethereal, firſt of things, quinteſſence pure, / Sprung from the Deep, […]1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- The fifth alchemical element, or essence, after earth, air, fire, and water that fills the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere.
- Synonyms:
- aether
- A hypothetical form of dark energy postulated to explain observations of an accelerating universe.
Verb
quintessence (third-person singular simple present quintessences, present participle quintessencing, simple past and past participle quintessenced)
- To reduce to its purest and most concentrated essence.
quintessence meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
quintessence in Hindi
- pure substance
- शुद्ध śuddh, खरा kharā
quintessence in Urdu
- عرق, جوہر, خلاصہ, لب لباب, نچوڑ, رس
quintessence in Bengali
- সারাংশ, বিশুদ্ধতম রূপ
quintessence in Malayalam
- exemplar, perfect example, prototype
- പരമോദാഹരണം, കുറ്റമറ്റ മാതൃക, സമ്പൂർണ്ണമാതൃക, ശരിയായ മാതൃക, മാതൃക, ഉത്തമമാതൃക
- soul, essence, spirit
- സത്ത, സാരസർവ്വസ്വം, ആന്തരികസത്ത, ആത്മാവ്, സാരം, സാരാംശം
More languagesFewer languages
- quintessence in Kannada
- ಸೊಗಡು, ತಿರುಳು, ನಲ್ಲೆತ್ತುಗೆ
- quintessence in Persian
- نمونهٔ اعلی nemune-ye a'lâ
Synonyms of quintessence
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of quintessence
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | quintessences |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | quintessences |
| present participle | quintessencing |
| past participle | quintessenced |
| past | quintessenced |
Origin of quintessence
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English, borrowed from Middle French, from Medieval Latin quinta essentia (“fifth essence, aether”), equivalent to quint- + essence. "Essence" in this context is a synonym for "element". In pre-atomic/Aristotelian theory, there are four known elements or essences — Earth, Air, Fire and Water — and a putative fifth element (aether), which is considered to be of exceptional superior quality to the other four basic elements.
Words formed from quintessence
Questions about quintessence
- What does quintessence mean?
- Quintessence means a thing that is the most perfect example of its type; the most perfect embodiment of something; epitome, prototype.
- What is quintessence in Hindi?
- Quintessence in Hindi is शुद्ध (śuddh), खरा (kharā). See Quintessence meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is quintessence?
- Quintessence can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce quintessence?
- Quintessence is pronounced /kwɪnˈtɛs.əns/.
- What is the plural of quintessence?
- The plural of quintessence is quintessences.
Words near quintessence in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: quintessence (page history and authors); quintessence (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); quintessence (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); quintessence (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); quintessence (Kannada 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-quintessence.oga.
Cite this entry: “quintessence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quintessence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.