being

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Originated 1250–1300 from Middle English being; see be + -ing.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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being

  1. present participle and gerund of be

Noun

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being (countable and uncountable, plural beings)

  1. A living creature.
  2. The state or fact of existence, consciousness, or life, or something in such a state.
    • 1608-1634, John Webster (and perhaps Thomas Heywood), Appius and Virginia
      Claudius, thou / Wast follower of his fortunes in his being.
    • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:
      For the service to be considered was not the service of one servant, but of two servants, and even of three servants, and even of an infinity of servants, of whom the first could not out till the second up, nor the second up till the third in, nor the third in till the first out, nor the first out till the third in, nor the third in till the second up, nor the second up till the first out, every going, every being, every coming consisting with a being and a coming, a coming and a going, a going and a being, nay with all the beings and all the comings, with all the comings and all the goings, with all the goings and all the beings, of all the servants that had ever served Mr. Knott, of all the servants that ever would serve Mr. Knott.
  3. (philosophy) That which has actuality (materially or in concept).
  4. (philosophy) One's basic nature, or the qualities thereof; essence or personality.
  5. (obsolete) An abode; a cottage.

Synonyms

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Translations

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Conjunction

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being

  1. Given that; since.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: [], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: [] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
      , New York Review Books 2001, p.280:
      ’Tis a hard matter therefore to confine them, being they are so various and many […].

Synonyms

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References

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See also

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Anagrams

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Scottish Gaelic

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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being f (dative singular being or beingidh, genitive singular beinge, plural beingean)

  1. bench, form

Declension

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  • Alternative dative singular: beingidh (Uist, Barra)
  • Alternative genitive singular: beingeadh (Uist, Barra)