noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
US:/ɛɡˈzɪs.təns/
US:/ɪɡˈzɪs.təns/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɪstəns
CMU ARPABET:EH0 G Z IH1 S T AH0 N S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:IH0 G Z IH1 S T AH0 N S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The state of being, existing, or occurring; beinghood.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
In order to destroy evil, we must first acknowledge its existence.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: presence
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Empirical reality; the substance of the physical universe. (Dictionary of Philosophy; 1968)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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.
Across languages
Translations
161 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
qenie
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Albanian:
ekzistencë
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Arabic:
وُجُود
(wujūd)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Arabic:
كَيْنُونَة
(kaynūna)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Arabic:
وجود
(wugūd)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Armenian:
գոյություն
(goyutʻyun)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Asturian:
esistencia
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Azerbaijani:
varlıq
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Azerbaijani:
mövcudluq
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Bashkir:
барлыҡ
(barlıq)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Belarusian:
існава́нне
(isnavánnje)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Belarusian:
існава́ньне
(isnavánʹnje)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Belarusian:
быццё
(byccjó)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Belarusian:
быцьцё
(bycʹcjó)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Belarusian:
экзістэ́нцыя
(ekzisténcyja)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Bengali:
অস্তিত্ব
(ostitto)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Bengali:
ওজুদ
(ōjud)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Bulgarian:
съществу́ване
(sǎštestvúvane)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Bulgarian:
битие́
(bitié)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Burmese:
ဇာတ်
(jat)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Catalan:
existència
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Chinese Cantonese:
存在
(cyun4 zoi6)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hakka Chinese:
存在
(chhùn-chhai)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Chinese:
存在
(zh-min-nan)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Chinese Mandarin:
存在
(cúnzài)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Wu Chinese:
存在
(6zen-ze)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Czech:
existence
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Czech:
bytí
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Danish:
eksistens
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Danish:
tilværelse
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Dutch:
bestaan
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Dutch:
voorkomen
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Esperanto:
ekzistado
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Esperanto:
ekzisto
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Estonian:
olemasolu
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Fala:
ixistencia (Lagarteiru)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Fala:
existencia (Mañegu, Valverdeñu)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Finnish:
olemassaolo
— state of being, existing, or occurring
French:
existence
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Galician:
existencia
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Georgian:
არსებობა
(arseboba)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
German:
Existenz
— state of being, existing, or occurring
German:
Dasein
— state of being, existing, or occurring
German:
Sein
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Greek:
ύπαρξη
(ýparxi)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Ancient Greek:
ῠ̔́πᾰρξῐς
(hŭ́părxĭs)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Gujarati:
અસ્તિત્વ
(astitva)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hebrew:
קִיּוּם
(kiyúm)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hindi:
अस्तित्व
(astitva)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hindi:
भाव
(bhāv)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hindi:
हस्ती
(hastī)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hindi:
वजूद
(vajūd)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hungarian:
lét
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Hungarian:
létezés
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Icelandic:
tilvera
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Icelandic:
tilvist
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Indonesian:
eksistensi
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Indonesian:
adanya
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Indonesian:
keberadaan
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Interlingua:
existentia
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Irish:
an saol
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Italian:
esistenza
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Japanese:
存在
(sonzai)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Japanese:
実存
(jitsuzon)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Japanese:
実在
(jitsuzai)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Kazakh:
тіршілік
(tırşılık)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Kazakh:
болмыс
(bolmys)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Khmer:
អត្ថិភាព
(ʼatthephiəp)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Korean:
존재
(jonjae)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Korean:
실존
(siljon)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Korean:
실재
(siljae)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Central Kurdish:
بوون
(bûn)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Northern Kurdish:
hebûn
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Northern Kurdish:
wicûd
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Kyrgyz:
жашоо
(jaşoo)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lao:
ຊີບ
(sīp)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lao:
ຊີວະ
(sī wa)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lao:
ຊີວັງ
(sī wang)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lao:
ຊີວາລັຍ
(sī wā lai)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lao:
ຊີວິດ
(sī wit)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lao:
ພະວາພົບ
(pha wā phop)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lao:
ພາວະ
(phā wa)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Latin:
exsistentia
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Latvian:
eksistence
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Latvian:
pastāvēšana
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Latvian:
esamība
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lithuanian:
egzistavimas
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lithuanian:
buvimas
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Lithuanian:
egzistencija
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Macedonian:
постоење
(postoenje)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Macedonian:
битие
(bitie)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Maltese:
eżistenza
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Māori:
tauoranga
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Māori:
kaiaotanga
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Eastern Mari:
вуй
(vuj)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Mongolian:
ᠣᠷᠣᠰᠢᠬᠤᠢ
(orosiqui)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Mongolian:
ᠠᠬᠤᠢ
(aqui)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Mongolian:
ᠠᠮᠢᠳᠤᠷᠠᠯ
(amidural)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Mongolian:
оршихуй
(oršixuj)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Mongolian:
ахуй
(axuj)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Mongolian:
амьдрал
(amʹdral)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Norman:
beays
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Norwegian Bokmål:
eksistens
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Norwegian Bokmål:
tilværelse
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Occitan:
existéncia
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Church Slavic:
бꙑтиѥ
(bytije)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Old English:
wist
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Pashto:
شتون
(štun)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Pashto:
هستي
(hastí)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Pashto:
وجود
(wojúd)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Iranian Persian:
هَسْتی
(hasti)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Iranian Persian:
وُجود
(vojud)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Iranian Persian:
بُوِش
(boveš)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Polish:
egzystencja
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Polish:
istnienie
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Polish:
byt
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Portuguese:
existência
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Romanian:
existență
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Russian:
существова́ние
(suščestvovánije)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Russian:
бытие́
(bytijé)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Russian:
экзисте́нция
(ekzistɛ́ncija)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Sanskrit:
अस्तित्व
(ástitva)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Serbo-Croatian:
постојање
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Serbo-Croatian:
битисање
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Serbo-Croatian:
егзистенција
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Serbo-Croatian:
postojanje
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Serbo-Croatian:
bitisanje
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Serbo-Croatian:
egzistencija
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Slovak:
existencia
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Slovak:
bytie
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Slovene:
obstoj
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Slovene:
bitje
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Spanish:
existencia
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Swedish:
existens
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Swedish:
tillvaro
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Swedish:
vara
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tagalog:
kamayhan
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tagalog:
kamayrunan
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tajik:
ҳастӣ
(hasti)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tajik:
вуҷуд
(vujud)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tajik:
бувиш
(buviš)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tatar:
барлык
(barlıq)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tatar:
яшәү
(yäşäw)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Tatar:
вөҗүд
(wöcüd)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Thai:
การมีอยู่
(gaan-mii-yùu)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Thai:
การมีตัวตน
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Turkish:
varlık
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Turkish:
varoluş
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Turkish:
egzistans
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Turkmen:
barlyk
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Ukrainian:
існува́ння
(isnuvánnja)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Ukrainian:
буття́
(buttjá)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Ukrainian:
екзисте́нція
(ekzysténcija)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Urdu:
ہَسْتی
(hastī)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Urdu:
وَجُود
(vajūd)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Uyghur:
مەۋجۇتلۇق
(mewjutluq)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Uzbek:
mavjudlik
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Uzbek:
borliq
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Vietnamese:
tồn tại
— state of being, existing, or occurring
Yiddish:
עקסיסטענץ
(eksistents)
— state of being, existing, or occurring
