essence

1. 1.

   the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

   “the gist of the prosecutor's argument”

   “the heart and soul of the Republican Party”

   “the nub of the story”

   Synonymskernelsubstancecorecentercentregistheartheart and soulinwardnessmarrowmeatnubpithsum

   Broadercontent

   Narrowerbare boneshypostasisquiddityquintessencestuff

   Canada · United Kingdom

2. 2.

   any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted

   Broadersubstance
3. 3.

   the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

   Synonymseffectburdencoregist

   Broadermeaning
4. 4.

   a toiletry that emits and diffuses a fragrant odor

   Synonymsperfume

   Broadertoiletry

   Narrowercolognepatchouliperfumerypotpourrirose watertoilet water

Other forms of essence

plural

essences·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about essence

What does essence mean?

essence means "the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in essence?

essence has 2 syllables: es-sence. The stress falls on "es". In IPA it is /ˈɛsəns/.

What is another word for essence?

Close synonyms include kernel, substance, core, center, centre. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is essence a common word?

essence is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with essence?

2 words rhyme with essence. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.