beingn.
/ˈbiːɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbiɪŋ/ 1. † b. Condition; state. Obsolete.† c. Livelihood, living, subsistence. Also as a count noun. Obsolete.† d. Position, standing (in the world); (good) status. Obsolete.
a. Existence in relationship to some place or condition; (formerly also) presence (obsolete). Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [noun] > in relation to place or condition
beingc1330
the world > space > place > position or situation > [noun] > fact of being in
beingc1330
ubiation1624
lying1634
ubication1635
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 3784 (MED) Arthour was wel stilly Wiþ his folk neiȝe hem bi—Noiþer baroun no king Nist nouȝt of his being.
1433 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. July 1433 §17. m. 16 Þe said communys, considerith þat þe presence and beyng of my saide lorde of Bedford' in þis lande..hath bee full fructuous.
1442 T. Bekington Let. in G. Williams Mem. Reign Henry VI (1872) II. 192 (MED) He never spak with hym in al his being there.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Luke ix. f. xcv Master, it is goode beinge here for vs.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B3v Far from the purpose of his comming thither, He makes excuses for his being there. View more context for this quotation
a1617 S. Hieron Wks. (1620) I. 3 Entrance in at the gate presupposeth a beeing without the gate.
1661 T. Blount Glossographia (ed. 2) Locality, the being of a thing in a place.
a1705 J. Ray Three Physico-theol. Disc. (1713) ii. v. 208 The Being of Wolves and Foxes..anciently in this Island.
1731 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II. (ed. 2) Primevousness, the being of the first age.
1880 W. P. Dickson & W. Stewart tr. H. A. W. Meyer Crit. Handbk. Mark & Luke II. xxiv. 367 Luther..rightly designates the being of Christ in Heaven as a corporalia absentia from the earth.
1988 V. G. Potter Doctrine & Exper. 222 Pragmatism, perhaps more successfully than other philosophic positions, brings together the being of humans in the world and the knowing by humans of the natural universe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > [noun]
statec1225
estatec1230
farea1325
casec1325
beingc1330
degreec1330
condition1340
suita1375
stature?a1513
existence1530
affection?1543
existency1587
subsistence1597
consistence1626
subsistency1628
tone1641
consistency1690
attitude1744
situation1765
working order1784
faring1811
status1837
figure1858
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 5525 Þou no schalt aske name our No wo we beþ no non of our No apose ous of our being.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) l. 223 (MED) For he was nouȝth of þat contreye, She asked his beyng in hast.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlii. l. 232 Now have I ȝow told Al In fere Of Owre beenge & Of Owre Manere.
1548 W. Thomas Ital. Gram. & Dict. Freschezza, lustinesse or fresh beyng.
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. f. 47/1 The patient must a long continuance keepe his Joyncte in that being.
1609 W. Leigh First Step towards Heaven Ep. Ded. Sig. A3v The Son, though clad with glory: yet cannot runne it course, but with censure either of too high a pitch, and then it burneth, or of too lowe a being, and so it heateth not.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > livelihood
lifeOE
foodOE
livelihoodc1300
livingc1330
ploughc1390
purchasec1475
daily bread1526
being1570
governing1572
shift1572
supportation1576
thrift1579
livelihead1590
thrive1592
breadwinnera1614
subsistence1644
gain1655
bread and butter1691
through-bearing1705
bread1719
bread ticket1801
daily1817
lifehood1823
rice bowl1853
crust1916
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. biii With some proportionall consideration for our time, and being.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Sept. 33 No being for those, that truly mene, But for such as of guile maken gayne.
a1607 A. Dent Expos. Lords Prayer (1613) sig. D6 Men must haue a being, and a sustentation by bread in this life, before they can desire forgiuenesse of Sinnes.
1667 R. Allestree Causes Decay Christian Piety viii. 230 A bare being was all could be expected.
1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope II. 45 Several others..had likewise very good Beings there.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > distinction of class > level or grade
mannishOE
placec1330
state1340
gree1382
conditionc1384
sectc1384
sortc1386
ordera1400
raff?a1400
degreea1425
countenancec1477
faction?1529
estate1530
race1563
calibre1567
being1579
coat1579
rang1580
rank1585
tier1590
classis1597
strain1600
consequence1602
regiment1602
sept1610
standinga1616
class1629
species1629
nome1633
quality1636
sort1671
size1679
situation1710
distinction1721
walk of life1733
walk1737
stage1801
strata1805
grade1808
caste1816
social stratum1838
station1842
stratum1863
echelon1950
1579 G. Gilpin tr. P. van Marnix van Sant Aldegonde Bee Hiue of Romishe Church f. 30 v The worde can haue no might, no credite, no estimation, nor no being in the worlde, vnlesse it bee by speciall grace borrowed of her daughter the holy Church.
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Coxcombe i. in Comedies & Trag. (1647) 110 Let your maide conduct her up Into some faire becomming Chamber Fit for a woman of her being.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxvi. sig. X5v Whosoever comes to place from a meane being, had need haue..vertue.
1685 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 246 Colonel Norton, who though now in being..was formerly a very fierce commander in the first rebellion.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 544. ⁋2 Such..as want help towards getting into some being in the world.
1819 W. Cobbett Year's Resid. U.S.A. iii. 421 He has not kept house; he has had no being in any neighbourhood.
e. A home, a dwelling; a place of abode. Now rare and English regional (chiefly East Anglian).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > [noun]
houseeOE
homeOE
houseOE
roofa1382
housinga1400
bike1508
dwelling-house1530
firehouse1530
standing house?1532
mansion house1533
maisonc1540
beinga1616
smoke-housea1687
drum1846
khazi1846
casa1859
shack1910
kipsie1916
machine for living (in)1927
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. v. 54 Returne he cannot, nor Continue where he is: To shift his being, Is to exchange one misery with another. View more context for this quotation
1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis 239/1 A man that hath no setled being, Homo incerti laris.
1722 R. Steele Conscious Lovers iii. i. 32 It will be nothing for them to give us a little Being of our own, some small Tenement, out of their large Possessions.
1839 C. Clark John Noakes & Mary Styles 5 John a bee'un foun' upon That cried-up sput,—and I Have hard he there lived.
1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield lxiii. 617 The roses a covering our Beein to the roof.
1898 F. Hall in Eng. Dial. Dict. I. 230/2 [Suffolk] My bein is hinderwah [i.e. yonder].
2. † b. Occurrence, happening. Obsolete.
a. Existence, the fact of belonging to the universe of things material or immaterial. Also as a count noun (rare).to call into being: see call v. Phrases 3f.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [noun]
being1340
statec1384
essencion?a1400
existencea1425
essencya1475
existency1548
essentie1552
essence1576
entity1596
existing1616
esse1621
beingness1662
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 103 Þet ne ziggeþ propreliche þe zoþe of þe byinge of God.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 183 (MED) Man haþ beynge [L. esse] wiþ stones, lyuynge wiþ trees and herbes, felynge wiþ bestes, knowleche and vnderstondynge wiþ aungels.
1413 J. Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle (1483) iv. xxviii. 74 The seed..wherof they taken their beynge.
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. vi. sig. e v I byleue in the holy chirche catholyke..ye beynge of all sayntes.
1534 Bible (Tyndale rev. Joye) Acts xvii. 28 In him we lyve, move & have oure beynge.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 172 Aristotle saith, that nature in one respect is said to be the first & chiefe matter subiect of euery thing that hath being.
1647 T. May Hist. Parl. ii. ii. 22 To subvert the very Rights and Beeings of Parliament.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 440 With utter loss of being Threatens him. View more context for this quotation
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 381. ¶4 The great Author of our Being.
1734 A. Pope Ess. Man: Epist. IV 1 O Happiness! our Being's End and Aim.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 72. ⁋2 Good humour..is the balm of being.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. I. viii. 130 How being can transform itself into a knowing, becomes conceivable on one only condition; namely, if it can be shown that the vis representativa, or the Sentient, is itself a species of being.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) II. App. 610 The house had no corporate being.
1977 P. Fuller Jrnl. 28 Mar. in Marches Past (1986) 86 Through nature, we have our being: ultimately we depend upon it.
2000 W. P. Alston in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Comp. Christian Thought 595/1 God is ultimate , that on which all else depends for its being.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > occurrence or event
weird971
redeOE
thingOE
limpc1200
casea1250
tidingc1275
timinga1325
being?c1400
incident?1462
advenement1490
occurrent1523
accidenta1525
occurrence1539
affair1550
event1554
happening1561
événement1567
success1588
betide1590
circumstance1592
arrivage1603
eveniency1660
occurrency1671
betider1674
befalling1839
whet1849
intermezzo1851
transpiration1908
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) v. pr. vi. l. 5142 Alle þe þingus shollen be doon whiche þat god woot by-forn þat þei ben to comen..ȝit algates ne lese þei nat hire propre nature ne beynge, by þe whiche first or þat þei were doon þei hadden power nat to han bitidid.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia (1629) 180 (margin) A strange being of Rauens.
c. Life, physical existence. Also as a count noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun]
lifeOE
life and limbc1275
life and memberc1275
being1521
trouble and strife1908
blood-being1915
1521 tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Cyte of Ladyes vi. sig. Cc.iii I am Iustyce the synguler doughter of god and my beynge procedeth purely of his propre persone.
1573 R. Lever Arte of Reason i. xiv. 61 Thys acte referred vnto the wood that is burned, is called a corrupting: for it taketh away the wood, and causeth it to haue no longer a beeing in nature.
1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse sig. C6 The priuation of the aire deprives vs of our being.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) i. i. 11 Pisa..Gaue me my being . View more context for this quotation
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. ii. §10 That a power infinite should raise an Insect into Being.
1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe iii. 45 Our Prophet's care Commands the beings eve'n of Brutes to spare.
1713 R. Steele in Guardian 12 Mar. 2/1 In all the Occurrences of a various Being.
1754 Bp. T. Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. ii. 76 To call Men from the Graue into Being.
1768 C. Beatty Jrnl. Two Months' Tour 92 In this pleasurable manner they spent their beings.
1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms ii. 155 Hopeless woe the spring of being feeds.
1859 O. W. Holmes Professor at Breakfast-table in Atlantic Monthly Mar. 352/1 The little, single-wicked night-lamp of being.
1921 Eastern Buddhist (Japan) 1 13 Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being.
1962 R. G. Olson Introd. Existentialism iv. 129 Existential psychoanalysis, the method for discovering an individual's fundamental project of being.
2004 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 15 Jan. 13/2 Nostalgie de la boue , for instance, is not a mood but a state of being.
3.
a. Existence viewed as a property possessed by anything; substance, constitution, nature.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > substance or being
being1340
substance1340
essencea1398
materialitya1529
stuff1587
subject1590
timber1612
primary substance1774
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 82 (MED) Þe wordle is ydel ine byinge, vyl ine worþ, biter in smac.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ii. ii. 60 Suche comparisoun as is..bytwene a poyn[t] and a lyne in beinge.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 17 Als God in a [= one] substance and beyng With-outen any bygynnyng.
1530 J. Rastell New Bk. Purgatory i. xvii. sig. b3 Ye vnderstandyng of god is hys very beynge.
1581 W. Fulke in A. Nowell et al. True Rep. Disput. E. Campion (1584) iii. sig. Y The proper substance of Christes body remaineth not, but a generall being thereof.
1659 J. Arrowsmith Armilla Catechetica 187 Our very being is none of ours.
1702 S. Parker tr. Cicero Five Bks. De Finibus v. 356 In a manner to null and erase their very Being.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. ii. v. 192 The Romish faith may be said to have entered into the being of the Spaniard.
1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun I. xiii. 155 Nature has made women especially prone to throw their whole being into what is technically called love.
1916 E. R. Burroughs Beasts of Tarzan viii. 120 Until the last spark of life should flicker and go out, his whole being would remain quick with hope and determination.
1974 D. Goines Daddy Cool iv. 48 The man began to struggle with his anger and fear. Her words had shaken him to his very being.
2004 J. McCourt Queer Street 544 It's not just getting off, it is like an out-of-body experience, my whole being transported to a higher plane, definitely a religious experience.
b. Essential substance, essence. Also as a count noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [noun]
pitheOE
i-cundeeOE
roota1325
substancec1330
juicec1380
marrowa1382
formc1385
acta1398
quidditya1398
substantial forma1398
inward1398
savourc1400
inwardc1450
allaya1456
essencya1475
being1521
bottom1531
spirit?1534
summary1548
ecceity1549
core1556
flower1568
formality1570
sum and substance1572
alloy1594
soul1598
inwardness1605
quid1606
fibre1607
selfness1611
whatness1611
essentialityc1616
propera1626
the whole shot1628
substantiala1631
esse1642
entity1643
virtuality1646
ingeny1647
quoddity1647
intimacy1648
ens1649
inbeing1661
essence1667
interiority1701
intrinsic1716
stamen1758
character1761
quidditas1782
hyparxis1792
rasa1800
bone1829
what1861
isness1865
inscape1868
as-suchness1909
Wesen1959
1521 tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Cyte of Ladyes ii. iii. sig. Bb.vi It is not without grete cause that he is so enuyronned of so ryche precyous stones as thou seest it. For by hym these beynges qualytees proporcyon, & measures of al thynges ben knowne.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 197/1 Beyng, essence.
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. vii. f. 183 Nomber compaseth all thinges, and is..the being and very essence of all thinges.
1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme i. iii. 7 I define God therefore..an Essence or Being fully and absolutely perfect.
1676 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 11 614 The first Beings or Embrions of mineral salts are nothing but vapours.
1730 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum Definition (with Logicians), an unfolding the essence or being of a thing by its kind and difference.
1854 M. Evans tr. L. Feuerbach Essence Christianity ii. 37 The ens realissimum, the most real being of the old onto-theology.
1860 R. W. Emerson Worship in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 188 We are one day to deal with real being,—essences with essences.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Informant Informant form,..a form which affects the specific essence of a thing, which penetrates the being of the matter, and is not merely extrinsically joined to it, as an assistant form, producing only motion.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought iii. 43 The philosopher also, because he has to rise out of the sea of change and lay hold of true being.
2000 P. Cramer in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 24/1 The daylight of the true being of created things and their creator.
4.
a. Something that exists or is conceived as existing.Used in philosophical language as the widest term applicable to all objects of sense or thought, material or immaterial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [noun] > entity, being, or thing
thingeOE
warec1200
beinga1393
matterc1450
body1587
essence1587
entity1596
existence1605
existency1628
existent1635
essency1647
exister1700
beënt1865
thang1932
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 92 (MED) Ther ben thre formes of beinges: Thing which began and ende schal..Thing which began and schal noght deie..Bot ther is on..Whos time nevere was begonne, And endeles schal ever be.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor 243 Thei helden and trowiden that heuen and hise parties weren the best thingis in al the hool vnyuersite of thingis and of beingis.
1530 J. Rastell New Bk. Purgatory i. xvii. sig. b3 The eterne existens of god whyche must excell all other beynges, hath in yt selfe suche a nobylyte that yt comprehendeth.
1599 J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 22 She [sc. the soul] is a substance, and a perfect being.
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke i. iii. 10 Things naturall are called properly naturall existences or beings.
a1628 F. Greville Cælica cii, in Certaine Wks. (1633) 250 No being was secure.
a1651 N. Culverwell Worth of Souls in Elegant Disc. Light of Nature (1652) ii. 201 The soul...will set up Beings of its own, Entia Rationis; Reason's creatures.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. v. 203 Species of Actions, which were only the Creatures of their own Understanding; Beings that had no other existence, but in their own Minds.
a1704 J. Locke Posthumous Wks. (1706) 86 A word may be made use of, as if it stood for some real Being.
1714 J. Fortescue-Aland Fortescue's Governance of Eng. 6 In the Nature of Ideas, Legal Beings, as I may call them, are as capable of Demonstration, as Mathematical ones.
1843 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic I. i. iii. §2. 62 Being is..applied impartially to matter and to mind..A Being is that which excites feelings, and which possesses attributes.
1917 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics IX. 771/2 Aristotle laid the foundation for personalism by affirming self-consciousness as the highest being.
1940 Mind 44 316 A being on the lower threshold of agency would..by its tenuity, de-substantialize its objective universe towards qualitative nonentity.
2002 R. J. Richards Romantic Conception Life iii. 183 The absolute, or God, was demonstrated through an ontological argument—that is, from the definition of substance, as that which cannot be produced by another substance (thus a being whose essence is existence).
b. With defining word or phrase: God. Esp. in Supreme Being.Sometimes used to avoid specifically Christian (or other religious) theological implications.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun]
the Most HigheOE
highesteOE
alwaldendOE
drightinOE
godOE
King of kingsOE
heavenOE
lordOE
sky?1518
gossea1556
beingc1600
deity1647
Master of the Universe1765
Morimo1824
Molimo1861
Gawd1877
big guy1925
Modimo1958
c1600 J. Davies in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign Elizabeth (1845) I. 244 He that was, and is, and cannot fade, This Beeing infinite.
a1688 R. Cudworth Treat. Eternal & Immutable Morality (1731) iv. iv. 250 There is a God, or an Omnipotent and Omniscient Being.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 381. ¶8 Atheism, by which I mean a Disbelief of a Supreme Being.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. iv. 16 To the protection of that Being who will injure none of us, do I recommend you.
1820 J. Clare Let. 22 Feb. (1985) 32 She offers up her silent prayers to heaven where the Being resides who warms the rich & powerful.
1875 F. H. A. Scrivener 6 Lect. Text New Test. 6 That the Supreme Being should have thus far interfered with the course of his providential arrangements.
1961 Philos. Rev. 70 343 We can..say that the continuous temporal extension of an object is a fiction, or a hypothesis, or a consequence of the postulate of an omnipercipient Being.
2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 224/1 Mystics believe that the Godhead or Supreme Being sustains the manifested universe and is responsible for all aspects of existence and consciousness.
c. A living creature, either corporeal or spiritual; esp. a human being, a person (frequently used with either contemptuous or idealistic overtones). Also: a person from another world, an alien.human being: see human adj. and n. Compounds 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 49 If there were no Sensitive Beings, those Bodies that are now the Objects of our Senses, would be but dispositively, if I may so speak, endowed with Colours, Tasts, and the like.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 305 There was no mean portion of Time between their Formation and Animation,..they were living Beings..as soon as they were formed.
1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 278 All created beings are up in arms to reduce the rebels.
1692 E. Walker tr. Epictetus Enchiridion xxxvii To have right Notions of the Deities; As that such Beings really are.
1701 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World I. iii. 150 An Hirco-cervus or any other fictitious being is true and real with respect to the simple essences or natures.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 141. ⁋6 A wit..a species of beings only heard of at the university.
c1790 W. Jones Hymn to Narayena in Wks. (1799) VI. 368 The evil beings, who are feigned to have sprung from the ears of Vishnu.
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 123 This mean, incorrigible being said to himself.
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. iii. 33 There I saw A white-robed Being on her knees.
1866 C. M. Yonge Cameos lxxvi, in Monthly Packet May 396 The veiled girlish being on whom Henry had set his vehement heart.
1937 J. P. Marquand Late George Apley v. 48 Once a week..there would come before us a being who had never obtruded into our ken until that time. He was a..Frenchman whose name had been anglicized to ‘Mr. Treete’.
1957 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation (rev. ed.) iii. 50 Supernatural spiritual beings, good, bad, or indifferent.
1998 Time Out N.Y. 29 Oct. 117/2 A being from outer space posing as an earthman, he dons a metallic suit to save the planet from evil forces.
Phrases
P1. in being: existing, extant; alive. Cf. in esse at esse n. 1.a fleet in being: see fleet n.1 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adverb]
thereouta1300
outc1400
in being1483
existingly1601
existently1641
out therec1794
round1852
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. xxv/2 The dyuyne spirites & the aungelles..vnderstonde, and knowe aboue alle other wittes, & reasons, & more than alle other thynges yt been in beyng.
1536 Bp. J. Longland Serm. Good Fryday sig. Aiii For kendly euery creature coueyteth: to conforme hym to hys make at lest in beyng.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. *jv His Continuall Numbryng, of all thinges, is the Conseruation of them in being.
1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 407 The particular remembrances of such use..either neuer were in being, for want of Story-writers in barbarous times..or [etc.].
1676 W. Allen Serious & Friendly Addr. Non-conformists 48 The Church in being before, had thereby a new Illumination.
1702 J. Addison Evid. Christian Relig. (1727) 278 Had he quoted a record not in being, or made a false statement.
1807 W. H. Ireland Stultifera Navis 253 Make fools believe in their foreseeing Of things, before they are in being.
1827 T. Jarman Powell's Ess. Learning of Devises (ed. 3) II. 91 A legacy, to a person in being at the time the will is made.
1848 J. J. S. Wharton Law Lexicon 9/2 A child en ventre sa mère is..a life in being.
1952 Internat. Organization 6 183 The most effective utilization of forces now in being, or mobilizable in the event of aggression in the near future.
2000 Daily Tel. 30 Oct. 23/1 In 1968..the authorities decided that the post of Gentiluomo in England should be kept in being, for the lifetime of its holder.
P2. Philosophy.
being-in-itself n. [originally after German Wesen an sich, also Wesen an sich selbst (1781 in Kant); in existentialist use (compare quot. 1962) after French en-soi, also être en-soi (1943 in Sartre); compare also German Ansichsein and Insichsein (see being-in-self n.)] (a) being as it intrinsically is, in contrast to how it appears to be; (b) being that lacks conscious awareness; (c) being as mere potentiality; (cf. being-in-self n.).
ΚΠ
1798 tr. I. Kant Ess. & Treat. I. 123 That a thing as phenomenon..is subjected to certain laws, of which the very same, as a thing or a being in itself [Ger. als Ding oder Wesen an sich selbst], is independent, involves not the smallest contradiction.
1839 in H. P. Tappan Rev. Edwards's ‘Inq. into Freedom of Will’ ii. 140 There being but one substance which possesses being in itself, and the finite being that which participates of existence without possessing it in itself.
1854 J. F. Ferrier Inst. Metaphysic 525 Our alleged ignorance of ‘Being in itself’.
1962 R. G. Olson Introd. Existentialism ii. 38 In Sartre's system the noumenal world..is named ‘being-in-itself’ or sometimes simply ‘the in-itself’.
1989 R. Tong Feminist Thought vii. 196 The distinction between Being-in-Itself and Being-for-Itself is useful in an analysis of the human person, particularly if we associate Being-in-Itself with the body.
being-in-self n. [partly after German Insichsein (1807 or earlier as a term in philosophy), and partly after German Ansichsein (1802 or earlier); compare earlier being-in-itself n.] (a) being that exhibits distinct individuality; (b) being that lacks conscious awareness; (c) being as mere potentiality.
ΚΠ
1874 G. S. Morris tr. F. Ueberweg Hist. Philos. II. iii. 241 The Idea runs through a series of stages, from its abstract being-out-of-self in space and time to the being-in-self [Ger. Insichsein] of individuality in the animal organism, their succession depending on the progressive realization of the tendency to being-for-self, or to subjectivity.
1892 E. S. Haldane tr. G. W. F. Hegel Lect. Hist. Philos. I. 24 Being-in-self [Ger. Ansichsein] and being-for-self are the moments present in action.
2001 tr. H. S. Harris Hegel's Ladder II. i. 30 This immediate transition from life (being-for-self) to death (being-in-self) is the most abstract (empty) form of Reason.
being-for-itself n. [originally apparently after German Fürsichsein (see being-for-self n.); in existentialist use (compare quots. 1989, 2001) after French pour-soi, also être pour-soi (1943 in Sartre; compare earlier être-pour-soi (1874) rendering German Fürsichsein in a translation of Hegel)] = being-for-self n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > existentialism > [noun] > philosophy of Heidegger
Dasein1938
being-for-itself1945
being-itself1951
Mitsein1952
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > existentialism > [noun] > philosophy of Sartre
néant1847
nothingness1946
pour-soi1947
Sartrean1948
practico-inert1961
being-for-itself1989
1882 A. Seth Developm. Kant to Hegel ii. 21 Things form, as it were, a single or simple series of causes and effects; but intelligence is, in its very nature, a double series-knowledge of itself, being for itself.
1892 E. S. Haldane tr. G. W. F. Hegel Lect. Hist. Philos. I. 21 Two different states must be distinguished. The first is what is known as capacity, power, what I call being-in-itself..; the second principle is that of being-for-itself, actuality.
1945 Mind 54 177 Since the subject realises itself as a subject, it has being-for-itself and therefore also possesses being-in-itself.
1989 R. Tong Feminist Thought vii. 196 Sartre made this distinction between the observer and the observed by dividing being into two parts: Being-for-Itself (pour-soi) and Being-in-Itself (en-soi).
2001 N. Bauer Simone de Beauvoir iii. 91 The need for this subjection would be obviated only if the other being somehow automatically manifested the doubter's being-for-itself as a (public) object.
being-for-self n. [after German †Fürsichseyn (1807 or earlier in Hegel; now Fürsichsein; Für-sich-Sein); compare quot. 1865)] conscious being; being as actuality.
ΚΠ
1865 J. H. Stirling Secret of Hegel II. iii. 8 Being-for-self is the literal rendering of Fürsichseyn; which, indeed, cannot be translated otherwise.
1892 E. S. Haldane tr. G. W. F. Hegel Lect. Hist. Philos. I. 24 Being-in-self and being-for-self are the moments present in action.
1892 W. Wallace tr. G. W. F. Hegel Logic (ed. 2) vii. 179 The readiest instance of Being-for-self is found in the ‘I’. We know ourselves as existents.
2001 tr. H. S. Harris Hegel's Ladder I. vi. 265 The antithesis of being-for-self and being-for-another is a unity that embraces everything.
being-itself n. [apparently originally after post-classical Latin esse ipsum (see quot. 19512 and compare post-classical Latin ipsum esse as a term applied to God (4th or 5th cent. in Augustine)); compare German Sein selbst, (also) Sein-selbst (1953 or earlier in this sense in an edition of a lecture by P. Tillich of 1951)] pure being, regarded as infinite and uncharacterizable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > existentialism > [noun] > philosophy of Heidegger
Dasein1938
being-for-itself1945
being-itself1951
Mitsein1952
1951 P. Tillich Systematic Theol. I. 79 It could be called the ‘substance’ which appears in the rational structure, or ‘being-itself’ which is manifest in the logos of being.
1951 P. Tillich Systematic Theol. I. 41 Behind their [i.e. Alexander of Hales and Bonaventura] endeavours stood the mystical-Augustinian principle of the immediate awareness of ‘being-itself’, which is, at the same time, ‘truth-itself’ (esse ipsum—verum ipsum).
1957 Sc. Jrnl. Theol. 10 236 Being-itself, for Tillich, is the only non-symbolic or literal definition of God.
1963 B. Martin Existentialist Theol. Paul Tillich vi. 176 Insofar as he also attempts to include some of the insights of modern process theology, his ‘being-itself’ does, in the final analysis, seem to have the same qualities.
2000 W. P. Alston in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Comp. Christian Thought 594/2 According to Tillich, we can get at Being-Itself only through ‘symbols’, parts or aspects of the spatio-temporal world.
being-with n. [after German Mitsein (1927 in this sense: see Mitsein n.)] the essential relatedness of an individual human being with other human beings.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > [noun] > quality or state of being human
mannishnesseOE
mannishlaikc1175
manhoodc1225
manheadc1230
manliheada1325
humanitya1425
human condition?1566
humanness1694
humanism1836
humanhood1847
human situation1878
humanitas1896
being-with1956
1952 PMLA 67 659 Man's basic conflict..concerns man as a social being, his being-with-others, Mitsein.]
1956 F. C. Copleston Contemp. Philos. xi. 180 Being-in-the-world is being-with (Mitsein).
1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 May 376/5 A certain..complacency..seems..to pervade this world of mutual ‘being-with’.
1989 R. Tong Feminist Thought vii. 197 Sartre sometimes described this mode of being as a Mit-sein, as a communal being-with.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
beingadj.
/ˈbiːɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbiɪŋ/ rare.
Existing, present.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adjective] > existent or existing
bornOE
sustaineda1450
beingc1460
essential1535
existent1535
extant1561
existing1578
eventual1752
beënt1865
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Letabundus (Harl.) l. 249 in Minor Poems (1911) i. 57 (MED) The beeyng woord of hym that is hyhest.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 41 He is..pryme cause of al being thinges.
1691 T. D'Urfey Bussy D'Ambois v. ii. 46 So much Elixir of her Blood as this, Would make a being and Regenerate Death.
1984 J. Macquarrie In Search of Deity xii. 157 What is counted as nothing..is said to be ‘beinger’ (seiender) or more beingful than any being.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
beingconj.
/ˈbiːɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbiɪŋ/ 1. It being the case that, seeing that, since. Now regional and nonstandard.
a. Immediately introducing a clause.
ΚΠ
1528 T. More Dialogue Heresyes iii, in Wks. 214/2 Beyng though they wer but men.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. i. 188 You loyter heere too long, Being you are to take souldiers vp. View more context for this quotation
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 77 Being they are Church-men, we may rather suspect them.
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Apostles Creed To Rdr. Being the Creed comprehendeth the principles of our religion, it must, etc.
1692 Lady Russell Let. 26 May (1809) 298 I believe your newspapers..tell you all, but being there is nothing newer, I would do it too.
c1714 N. Blundell Diary (1952) v. 84 Whilst I was out I was sent for home being my brother Langdale was come to lodg here.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. ix. iv. 53 A little thing serves for a lady's tears, being they can cry at any time.
1833 S. Smith Life & Writings Major Jack Downing iv. 47 You may take 'em at 9d, being it's you.
1857 J. T. Trowbridge Neighbor Jackwood iii. iii. 41 Bein' I an't nobody's fool, I was nat'rally ruther anxious to know what it was all about.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. 13 Being he had a great family, and being he had been ill.
1971 San Antonio (Texas) Express 9 Mar. 6- a/2 Being she isn't about to mingle with other domestics in the servants' mess, Bobo's meals are brought to her suite.
b. With that.
ΚΠ
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 126 They wente all for halfe gates, beinge that they coulde not bee discerned.
1780 Mirror No. 75 (1781) 3 1 For this, you must answer to yourself, being that you are able to write printed papers.
1813 J. Austen Let. 11 Oct. (1952) 86 I am tired of Lives of Nelson, being that I never read any.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering I. ix. 138 With whom he himself had no delight in associating, ‘being that he was addicted unto profane and scurrilous jests’.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xiv. 270 It goes sorely against my conscience, Sir; but being that he is your cousin, of course—.
1942 A. Lewis Last Inspection 159 I sent him to clean your kit, sir, being that Thomas your batman isn't available.
1994 Rolling Stone 2 June 20/1 Being that I had been out since I was 17, nothing has changed.
2003 ‘Zane’ Nervous xvii. 100 She also needs to improve her computer science grade and being that you're a programmer, I would think you could help her out with that.
c. With as (also as how).
ΚΠ
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. x. 206 Why didna ye come to live i' this country, bein' as Mrs. Poyser's your aunt too?
1865 B. Brierley Irkdale (1868) 138 Theaw con have it for a penny, bein' as theaw'rt an owd chum, like.
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand (1880) x. 44 I thought it would be no more than neighborly, being as you were strangers as I may say.
1904 W. W. Jacobs Odd Craft 96 Being as I was passing, I just thought I'd look in.
1936 M. Mitchell Gone with the Wind xl. 709 Bein' as how I'm to marry Miss Suellen.
1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton vi. 128 On account, as I sees it, of my hands, being as they are summat dubby, though I allus had the strength, see, in my arms.
2000 I. Pattison Stranger here Myself (2001) i. 23 Drew and I exchanged a glance. ‘That's allowed being as we're only four,’ said Drew.
ΚΠ
1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xvi. 141 I got two of um, and should have got the rest bein Dr. Spoor hadn't a come in.
1889 A. J. Ellis On Early Eng. Pronunc. V. 44 It will not kill a chap being ye do laugh at him.
1896 F. H. Groome Kriegspiel ii. x. 208 ‘I would take it kind, Miss, if you'd read me that story yourself, being you're not too weary.’ ‘Oh no, I would like to.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.c1330
adj.c1460
conj.1528- brighteyed
- brighteyed and bushytailed
- brightfaced
- brightfield
- brighthaired
- brighthead
- brightheaded
- brighting
- brightish
- brightlier
- brightliest
- brightlit
- brightly
- brightness
- brightness control
- brightness setting
- brightness temperature
- brightnesses
- brightonian
- brightrobed
- brights
- brights disease
- brightshine
- brightshining
- brightskinned