essence
n. C / Un. the most important part or quality of something. It is the basic thing that makes something what it is.
n. the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character. Often used in philosophical contexts to distinguish a thing's core identity from its accidental properties.
The essence of his argument is that we need more time.
The artist tried to capture the essence of the city by painting its crowded streets and bright lights.
In existentialist philosophy, the debate over whether existence precedes essence remains a central theme, questioning whether humans are born with a purpose or create one through action.
From Middle English essence, from Middle French essence, from Latin essentia (“the being or essence of a thing”), from an artificial formation of esse (“to be”), to translate Ancient Greek οὐσία (ousía, “being”), from ὤν (ṓn), present participle of εἰμί (eimí, “to be, exist”).
Often used in the phrase 'in essence' to summarize a point, or 'of the essence' to indicate extreme importance.
The essence about the book is love.The essence of the book is love.The noun is almost always followed by the preposition 'of' to show what the core quality belongs to.