self-existingadj.
/ˌsɛlfᵻɡˈzɪstɪŋ/, /ˌsɛlfɛɡˈzɪstɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfɪɡˈzɪstɪŋ/, /ˌsɛlfɛɡˈzɪstɪŋ/ 1. Existing by virtue of intrinsic nature, independently of any other cause. Cf. self-existent adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adjective] > existent or existing > self-existent
self-being1599
self-subsisting1608
self-essential1610
self-substantial1630
self-subsistent1646
self-existing1647
self-essentiated1653
self-existent1663
self-living1668
self-standing1871
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > nature or attributes of God > [adjective] > self-sufficient > self-existent
self-essential1610
self-existing1647
self-essentiated1653
self-existent1663
1647 Bp. J. Hall Christ Mysticall 198 Thou art that incomprehensibly glorious, & infinite self-existing Spirit from eternity, in eternity, to eternity.
1693 J. Elliott Saving Grace 15 This one Increated Being was from Eternity, the sole self-existing Being.
1747 G. Lyttelton Observ. St. Paul 104 If..we have recourse..to the independent Existence of Matter, then we must admit Two Self-existing Principles.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion iv. 145 Self-existing Cause and End of all. View more context for this quotation
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 153 Their great forefathers..worshipped the un-imaged Self-existing God.
1905 Fortn. Rev. 1 Aug. 208 There, belief in a being called the Ādi-Buddha, infinite, self-existing, and omniscient, obtains.
1945 R. G. Collingwood Idea of Nature i. iii. 82 The process of the world is for him..a self-causing and self-existing process.
2012 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch 28 Jan. a12 The self-existing God became a human being in order to redeem mankind.
2. Having an independent existence. Cf. self-existent adj. 2.
ΚΠ
1709 D. Defoe Hist. Union Great Brit. 42 There was no way to Recover themselves, but either better terms of Union and Alliance, or a Returning back to their separate Self-Existing State.
1770 Correct Copy of Lords Protests 2 That House will be no longer a representative of the people, but a separate body altogether independent of them, self-existing and self elected.
1826 Law Jrnl. 4 131/1 Chili was a sovereign or self existing state.
1885 Liverpool Mercury 19 Mar. The power of reconstructing Egypt as a self-existing country remains exclusively with us.
1933 Bull. Amer. Libr. Assoc. 27 81/1 Most of our patrons look upon the library..as a sort of self-existing organism in the social polity.
1990 Times (Nexis) 18 Sept. We want a federation, but in its full meaning, with two self-existing sovereign states, which are there voluntarily.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1647