noun · neuterthird declension
ēns1
ēns n (genitive entis)
Classical[ˈẽːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈɛns]
Meaning
- Medieval Latinbeing
13th c., Boetius of Dacia Ens autem aeternum nullum sequitur in duratione; ergo mundus non est aeternus.
Nothing follows the Eternal Being (God) in duration; therefore, the world isn't eternal. - essence
- existence
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | ēns | entia entēs |
| genitive | entis | entium entum |
| dative | entī | entibus |
| accusative | ēns entem | entia entēs |
| ablative | entī ente | entibus |
| vocative | ēns | entia entēs |
ens, entis, n. sum,
I. a thing; formed, like essentia, after the Gr. οὐσία, by Flavius (or Fabianus), acc. to Quint. 8, 3, 33 Spald. N. cr., but first used by Caesar, acc. to Prisc. 18, 8, 75: entia (= τὰὄντα), Quint. 2, 14, 2.
Origins
Formed as a present participle of sum (“to be”) in Medieval Latin (and therefore unknown in the Classical period) by using the bare present participial ending -ēns of second and third conjugation verbs, as an analogy to the Ancient Greek present participle ὤν (ṓn) which falsely appears to be the same bare suffix but etymologically corresponds to sōns, both from *h₁es- (“to be”). See also essentia for a similar formation. The original present participle sōns had taken on the meaning "guilty" in the Classical period, but the still productive combining form sēns present in the verbs absum (absēns (“absent”)) and praesum (praesēns (“present”)) was ignored in creating this form.
Descendants
- Italianente
- Portugueseente
- Spanishente
- Englishens
- Albanianent