existence

existence, being, actuality are closely related in meaning but not always interchangeable.

Existence is the inclusive term which designates the state or condition of anything regarded as occurring in space or time, as distinct and apart from all other things, and as having a nature or substance of its own

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customs that have recently come into existence

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a mathematical point has no real existence

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wars that threaten the existence of civilization

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his misfortunes have existence only in his imagination

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concepts . . . are tyrants rather than servants when treated as real existences— Cardozo

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The opposite of existence is its complete negation nonexistence.

Being, when it denotes existence, adds varying implications. Sometimes it implies life, consciousness, or personality

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in him we live, and move, and have our being— Acts 17:28

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Sometimes it implies fullness or completeness of existence and absence of imperfection

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everything else is in a state of becoming, God is in a state of being —F. W. Robertson

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Sometimes it suggests the complex of qualities or characteristics that constitute the nature of a person or a personified thing

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all the forces of his being were massed behind one imperious resolve— Buchan

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Actuality as a synonym of existence stresses realization or attainment; it usually implies opposition to possibility or potentiality

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ambition is the spur that makes dreams come into actuality

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risks which have been seized upon as actualities when they have been merely potentialities— T. S. Eliot

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Analogous words: *state, condition, situation, status: subsisting or subsistence, living or life (see corresponding verbs at BE)

Antonyms: nonexistence