English → Latin
“essence” in Latin
volōto wish, to please; to want; to mean, to intendnātūrathe nature, quality, substance or essence of a thing; character, temperament, inclination, disposition; nature, the natuproprietāsquality, property, peculiarity, character; the legal position of an owner particularly if his property is encumbered witessentiaessence, being
The English word essence itself goes back to Latin essentia.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
essence
vis: natura: proprietas: natura atque vis: vis et natura: natura propria alicujus rei et vis (Cic.). ☞ Essentia, according to Sen., was used by Cic., as translation of οὐσία, but it is not found in his extant works; Quintilian says, οὐσίαν quam Plaut., [al. Flavius] essentiam vocat; neque sane aliud est ejus nomen Latinum; he adds, of ens, essentia :” quae cur tantopere aspernentur, nihil video, nisi quod iniqui judices adversus nos sumus”): (ipsa) substantia (post-Augustan; ipsa substantia. Quint.: reality; opposed to opinio, Paullus Juris-consulti). ☞ The best writers mostly translate “essence” by ipse or verus: the essence of friendship consists in this, vera amicitia in eo versatur; vis amicitiae in eo est: to look to the essence of anything, rem ipsam spectare: to belong to the essence of anything, alicujus rei proprium esse. ☞ Quintilian has rei substantiae convenire, to agree with its nature.
Essential oil, *essentia (technical term): *liquor tenuissimus: *flos succi (Bau.).
Odor, Vid.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for essence?
- The usual Latin words for “essence” are volō, nātūra, proprietās; also essentia. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.