existence

noun

Etymology: From Middle English existence, from Old French existence, from Late Latin existentia (“existence”), from existēns, from existō, exsistō (“I am, I exist”), from ex (“out”) + sistere (“to set, place”) (related to stare (“to stand, to be stood”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti, from the root *steh₂- (“stand”). Cognate with Spanish existencia, French existence, German Existenz. Morphologically exist + -ence.

1. The state of being, existing, or occurring; beinghood.

   “In order to destroy evil, we must first acknowledge its existence.”

   “Fortunate it is for the tranquillity of the new-born infant, if he have any turn for philosophy, that he understands none of the nonsense consecrated by old usage to the commencement of existence.”

2. Empirical reality; the substance of the physical universe. (Dictionary of Philosophy; 1968)