quintessence
noun
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Long ago, when people believed that everything was made up of four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—they thought the stars and planets were made up of yet another element. In the Middle Ages, people called this element by its Medieval Latin name, quinta essentia, literally, "fifth essence." They believed the quinta essentia was essential to all kinds of matter, and if they could somehow isolate it, it would cure all disease. People have since given up on that idea, but English users have kept quintessence, the offspring of quinta essentia, as a word for the purest essence of a thing. Some modern physicists have given quintessence a new twist—they use it to refer to a form of the dark energy believed to make up almost 70 percent of the energy in the observable universe.
Synonyms
Examples of quintessence in a Sentence
Meg Neal, Popular Mechanics, 10 Feb. 2021
The very quintessence of a group effort.
—Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 6 July 2012
And her longevity feels like a quest in the direction of excellence, as well as a pursuit of her own quintessence.
—Chris Richards, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2023
But Frieman hopes new data may reveal something more exotic, such as a mysterious substance called quintessence, which some scientists have proposed could explain the accelerating expansion of the universe.
—Ramin Skibba, Discover Magazine, 24 Jan. 2020
That’s partly because punk, with its assaultive immediacy and defiant not-niceness, now seems like the quintessence of the pre-digital world.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 24 July 2022
To celebrate the Domaine, Lancôme has introduced a special edition Mille et Une Roses (1001 Roses) fragrance, created by perfumer Louise Turner to capture the quintessence of this glorious and significant flower.
—April Long, Town & Country, 26 Aug. 2022
Her volume is the quintessence of the young Los Angeles poet, who strode to a lectern at the U.S. Capitol on Inauguration Day 2021 and reminded us, for a glorious moment, what the other side of sorrow felt like.
—Lynell George, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2022
These two ancient codgers are the quintessence of creepy.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 Mar. 2022
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Dictionary Entries Near quintessence
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“Quintessence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quintessence. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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quintessence
noun
Middle English quintessence "the substance from which heavenly bodies are formed (according to medieval belief)," from early French quinte essence (same meaning), from Latin quinta essentia, literally, "fifth essence," from earlier quinta, feminine form of quintus "fifth," and earlier essentia "essence"
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