Existere

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To come into being or begin to be present; to appear or emerge in existence; to stand forth or arise in reality
2. To begin to exist or manifest; to be present or come forth into being; to stand out or become real within a context
3. To originate or come into presence; to be found or materialize as an entity; to maintain a presence or stand out in a location

Etymology: Latin "existere" combined "ex-", meaning "out," with "sistere," "to stand" or "to make stand," so its original sense was literally "to stand out" or "to emerge." The root "sistere" is itself a causative form of "stare," "to stand," which is why the same family of verbs gives us "assist," "insist," and "resist." Over time, a sense of "coming forth into view" gradually shaded into "being present or real," and that is the meaning English speakers rely on today. English borrowed the word directly from Latin, and it appears in Middle English in the sense of "to be" or "to have actual being," though the modern verb "exist" is the same word in a later, more abstract use. The notion of standing out from nothingness gave philosophers a precise tool: in scholastic and later philosophical writing, "to exist" came to mean actually being, as opposed to merely being conceivable.

Synonyms: exist, live, be

Antonyms: cease, die