Essence

That which makes or defines an entity Part of a series onPhilosophy Philosophy portal Contents Outline Glossary History Categories Philosophies By period Ancient Egyptian Greek Medieval Renaissance Modern Contemporary Analytic Continental By region African Egyptian Ethiopian South African Eastern Chinese Indian Indonesian Japanese Korean Vietnamese Indigenous American Aztec Middle Eastern Iranian Western United States British French German Italian Russian By religion Buddhist Confucian Christian Hindu Islamic Jain Jewish Taoist Branches Epistemology Ethics Logic Metaphysics Aesthetics Education History Language Law Metaphilosophy Mind Ontology Phenomenology Political Religion Science Philosophers Aesthetic philosophers Epistemologists Ethicists Logicians Metaphysicians Philosophers of mind Religion philosophers Social and political philosophers Women in philosophy vte Essence (Latin: essentia) has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the entity it is or, expressed negatively, without which it would lose its identity. E