Quintessences

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The most essential or perfect example of a quality or class; the fifth and highest element in ancient cosmology, believed to compose heavenly bodies; a refined essence or extract that captures the purest form of something's nature
2. The purest and most concentrated form of a characteristic or substance; an elemental essence regarded as fundamental in classical philosophy; a distilled essence that represents the intrinsic qualities of its source
3. An ideal or ultimate embodiment of a trait or type; the fifth element, distinct from earth, air, fire, and water, contributing to the universe's makeup; an extract that epitomizes the core attributes of its origin

Etymology: The fifth element of ancient philosophy was originally a name for the heavens. Aristotle held that everything beneath the moon was made of four elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, while the stars and planets were composed of a finer substance he called aether, a fifth element moving in perfect circles. Medieval Latin writers named it "quinta essentia," literally "fifth essence," and the phrase passed into Middle French and then into English, where the word arrived in Middle English. The first meaning was therefore a physical substance, the material of the celestial spheres. Because this fifth essence was thought to be purer and more perfect than the four earthly elements, the term gradually came to mean the most refined or concentrated form of anything. Medieval alchemists extended it further, imagining that distilling a substance could extract its quintessence, the pure core of its nature. The plural "quintessences" simply refers to several such distilled cores, or several instances of the ideal form of a quality.

Synonyms: essences, substances, natures