Thisnesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being uniquely identifiable or distinct in nature
2. the essence of what makes something itself and not something else
3. a term describing the inherent characteristics that define an entity's individuality

Etymology: "Thisnesses" is the plural of "thisness," a noun built from the everyday pronoun "this" plus the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective or pronoun into a noun for a quality or state. Literally, "thisness" names the quality of being this particular thing rather than any other. The idea behind the word is a medieval philosophical one. Scholastic thinkers needed a way to talk about what makes a particular individual itself, as opposed to merely a member of a general kind, and the coinage follows that pattern: "humanity" is what makes someone human, and "thisness" is what makes this thing this one. Its plural, "thisnesses," is used when discussing several such individuating qualities at once, or the particular essences of many individuals.

Synonyms: essences, individuality, particularity, identity, uniqueness

Antonyms: universality, generality, commonness