being

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be·ing

(bē′ĭng)

1. The state or quality of having existence: technical advances that have only recently come into being. See Synonyms at existence.

2. The totality of all things that exist: theologians who hold that the mind of God is the source of all being.

a. A person: "The artist after all is a solitary being" (Virginia Woolf).

b. An individual form of life; an organism: "We [humans] are the only beings who are aware that we shall die" (Seyyed Hossein Nasr).

c. An imaginary, conjectural, or supernatural creature: extraterrestrial beings.

a. All the qualities constituting one that exists; the essence: the very being of human nature.

b. One's basic or essential nature: "[My grandfather's] face, words and gestures are a permanent part of my being" (Duane Nitatum).

conj. Chiefly Southern US, Upper Southern US, & New England

Because; since. Often used with as or that.

Usage Note: Being that is sometimes used as a synonym for considering that or seeing that to introduce a clause, as in Being that it's a holiday, I let the kids sleep late. While this construction has seen widespread use in American regional English, the Usage Panel does not much care for it in more standard contexts. In our 2006 survey, 71 percent of the Panel found the above example unacceptable. Some 83 percent rejected the sentence Being that he has never attended law school, it's strange that he's giving legal advice.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

being

(ˈbiːɪŋ)

1. the state or fact of existing; existence

2. essential nature; self: she put her whole being into the part.

3. something that exists or is thought to exist, esp something that cannot be assigned to any category: a being from outer space.

4. a person; human being

5. (Philosophy) (in the philosophy of Aristotle) actuality. Compare becoming³

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•ing

(ˈbi ɪŋ)

n.

1. the fact of existing; existence.

2. conscious, mortal existence; life.

3. essential substance or nature: the very core of my being.

4. something that exists: inanimate beings.

5. a living thing.

6. a human being; person.

7. (cap.) God.

8. Philos. absolute existence in a complete or perfect state; essence.

conj.

9. Chiefly Dial. since; because; considering that (often fol. by as, as how, or that).

[1250–1300]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	being - the state or fact of existing; "a point of view gradually coming into being"; "laws in existence for centuries" beingness, existence state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" actuality - the state of actually existing objectively; "a hope that progressed from possibility to actuality" timeless existence, timelessness, eternity - a state of eternal existence believed in some religions to characterize the afterlife preexistence - existing in a former state or previous to something else coexistence - existing peacefully together subsistence - the state of existing in reality; having substance presence - the state of being present; current existence; "he tested for the presence of radon" life - the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living; "he hoped for a new life in Australia"; "he wanted to live his own life without interference from others" aliveness, animation, living, life - the condition of living or the state of being alive; "while there's life there's hope"; "life depends on many chemical and physical processes" life - a characteristic state or mode of living; "social life"; "city life"; "real life" transcendence, transcendency - a state of being or existence above and beyond the limits of material experience possibleness, possibility - capability of existing or happening or being true; "there is a possibility that his sense of smell has been impaired" nonbeing - the state of not being
	2.	being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently organism animate thing, living thing - a living (or once living) entity benthos - organisms (plants and animals) that live at or near the bottom of a sea dwarf - a plant or animal that is atypically small heterotroph - an organism that depends on complex organic substances for nutrition parent - an organism (plant or animal) from which younger ones are obtained cell - (biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" animal, animate being, beast, creature, fauna, brute - a living organism characterized by voluntary movement plant life, flora, plant - (botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion native - indigenous plants and animals recombinant - a cell or organism in which genetic recombination has occurred conspecific - an organism belonging to the same species as another organism carrier - (genetics) an organism that possesses a recessive gene whose effect is masked by a dominant allele; the associated trait is not apparent but can be passed on to offspring denizen - a plant or animal naturalized in a region; "denizens of field and forest"; "denizens of the deep" amphidiploid - (genetics) an organism or cell having a diploid set of chromosomes from each parent diploid - (genetics) an organism or cell having the normal amount of DNA per cell; i.e., two sets of chromosomes or twice the haploid number haploid - (genetics) an organism or cell having only one complete set of chromosomes heteroploid - (genetics) an organism or cell having a chromosome number that is not an even multiple of the haploid chromosome number for that species polyploid - (genetics) an organism or cell having more than twice the haploid number of chromosomes animalcule, animalculum - microscopic organism such as an amoeba or paramecium microorganism, micro-organism - any organism of microscopic size aerobe - an organism (especially a bacterium) that requires air or free oxygen for life anaerobe - an organism (especially a bacterium) that does not require air or free oxygen to live crossbreed, hybrid, cross - (genetics) an organism that is the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock; especially offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties or breeds or species; "a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey" polymorph - an organism that can assume more than one adult form as in the castes of ants or termites congenator, congeneric, relative, congener - an animal or plant that bears a relationship to another (as related by common descent or by membership in the same genus) plankton - the aggregate of small plant and animal organisms that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or salt water nekton - the aggregate of actively swimming animals in a body of water ranging from microscopic organisms to whales parasite - an animal or plant that lives in or on a host (another animal or plant); it obtains nourishment from the host without benefiting or killing the host host - an animal or plant that nourishes and supports a parasite; it does not benefit and is often harmed by the association commensal - either of two different animal or plant species living in close association but not interdependent myrmecophile - an organism such as an insect that habitually shares the nest of a species of ant eucaryote, eukaryote - an organism with cells characteristic of all life forms except primitive microorganisms such as bacteria; i.e. an organism with `good' or membrane-bound nuclei in its cells procaryote, prokaryote - a unicellular organism having cells lacking membrane-bound nuclei; bacteria are the prime example but also included are blue-green algae and actinomycetes and mycoplasma zooid - one of the distinct individuals forming a colonial animal such as a bryozoan or hydrozoan body part - any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity tissue - part of an organism consisting of an aggregate of cells having a similar structure and function fertilized ovum, zygote - (genetics) the diploid cell resulting from the union of a haploid spermatozoon and ovum (including the organism that develops from that cell) parthenote - a cell resulting from parthenogenesis organic chemistry - the chemistry of compounds containing carbon (originally defined as the chemistry of substances produced by living organisms but now extended to substances synthesized artificially) clon, clone - a group of genetically identical cells or organisms derived from a single cell or individual by some kind of asexual reproduction

being

noun

1. individual, thing, body, animal, creature, human being, beast, mortal, living thing beings from outer space

2. life, living, reality, animation, actuality the complex process by which the novel is brought into being
life oblivion, nothingness, nullity, nonexistence, nonbeing, nihility soul, spirit, presence, substance, creature, essence, organism, entity The music seemed to touch his very being

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

being

noun

1. The fact or state of existing or of being actual:

actuality, entity, existence, reality.

2. The condition of being in full force or operation:

actualization, effect, materialization, realization.

3. One that exists independently:

entity, existence, existent, individual, object, something, thing.

4. A member of the human race:

body, creature, homo, human, human being, individual, life, man, mortal, party, person, personage, soul.

5. A basic trait or set of traits that define and establish the character of something:

essence, essentiality, nature, quintessence, substance, texture.

Translations

كائِن، مَخْلوقوُجود

bytostživotexistencetvorčlověk

opståvæsen

Sein Wesen Dasein

όντας πλάσμα ύπαρξη

ser existencia

olemassaoloolento

créature existence être

lénylét

veratilvera

creatura esistenza essere indole natura

存在生き物

존재

bestaan wezen

det å være til tilværelse vesen

ser

существо существование

vznikbytosť

bitje

varelseväsen

varlık yaratık

存在生物

being

[ˈbiːɪŋ] N

1. (= existence) → existencia f
in being → existente
to come or be brought into being → nacer

2. (= creature) → ser m
see also human

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

being

[ˈbiːɪŋ] n

(= creature) → être m being from outer space

(= existence) → existence f
to come into being [species] → prendre naissance; [system, state] → être créé(e)
the story of how the universe came into being → l'histoire de la naissance de l'univers
to bring sth into being (= create) → créer qch

being as conj (mainly British) (= since) → vu quebeing from outer space n → extraterrestre mf

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

being

(= existence) → Dasein nt, → Leben nt; to come into being → entstehen; (club etc also) → ins Leben gerufen werden; to bring into being → ins Leben rufen, (er)schaffen; then in being → damals bestehend

(= that which exists) → (Lebe)wesen nt, → Geschöpf nt; beings from outer space → Wesen pl → aus dem All

(= essence) → Wesen nt; with all or every fibre (Brit) or fiber (US) of my being → mit jeder Faser meines Herzens

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

being

[ˈbiːɪŋ] n

a. (existence) → essere m, esistenza
to come into being → nascere, essere creato/a
to bring sth into being → creare qc

b. (creature) → essere m

be

(biː) present tense am (am) are (aː) , is (iz) : past tense was (woz) , were (wəː) : present participle ˈbeing: past participle been (biːn, (American) bin) : subjunctive were (wəː) : short forms I'm (aim) (I am), you're (juə) (you are), he's (hiːz) (he is), she's (ʃiːz) (she is), it's (its) (it is), we're (wiə) (we are), they're (θeə) (they are): negative short forms isn't (ˈiznt) (is not), aren't (aːnt) (are not), wasn't (ˈwoznt) (was not), weren't (wəːnt) (were not) – verb

1. used with a present participle to form the progressive or continuous tenses. I'm reading; I am being followed; What were you saying?.

2. used with a present participle to form a type of future tense. I'm going to London.

3. used with a past participle to form the passive voice. He was shot.

4. used with an infinitive to express several ideas, eg necessity (When am I to leave?), purpose (The letter is to tell us he's coming), a possible future happening (If he were to lose, I'd win) etc.

5. used in giving or asking for information about something or someone. I am Mr Smith; Is he alive?; She wants to be an actress; The money will be ours; They are being silly.

ˈbeing noun

1. existence. When did the Roman Empire come into being?

2. any living person or thing. beings from outer space.

the be-all and end-all

the final aim apart from which nothing is of any real importance. This job isn't the be-all and end-all of existence.

being

n ser m; human — ser humano

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

In considering the Origin of Species, it is quite conceivable that a naturalist, reflecting on the mutual affinities of organic beings, on their embryological relations, their geographical distribution, geological succession, and other such facts, might come to the conclusion that each species had not been independently created, but had descended, like varieties, from other species.

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Two featherless beings appeared, uninvited, at the door of the summer-house, surveyed the constitutional creepers, and said, "These must come down"--looked around at the horrid light of noonday, and said, "That must come in"--went away, thereupon, and were heard, in the distance, agreeing together, "To-morrow it shall be done."

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What passes in those remote depths-- what beings live, or can live, twelve or fifteen miles beneath the surface of the waters--what is the organisation of these animals, we can scarcely conjecture.

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"Then," said Villefort, more and more amazed, and really supposing he was speaking to a mystic or a madman, "you consider yourself as one of those extraordinary beings whom you have mentioned?"

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Nor have Gall and his disciple Spurzheim failed to throw out some hints touching the phrenological characteristics of other beings than man.

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I saw few human beings besides them, and if any other happened to enter the cottage, their harsh manners and rude gait only enhanced to me the superior accomplishments of my friends.

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It is clear that the question turns upon another, namely, which can we know best, the psychology of animals or that of human beings? If we can know most about animals, we shall use this knowledge as a basis for inference about human beings; if we can know most about human beings, we shall adopt the opposite procedure.

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A dark unfathom'd tide Of interminable pride - A mystery, and a dream, Should my early life seem; I say that dream was fraught With a wild, and waking thought Of beings that have been, Which my spirit hath not seen, Had I let them pass me by, With a dreaming eye!

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TWO Blighted Beings, haggard, lachrymose, and detested, met on a blasted heath in the light of a struggling moon.

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Be pleased, then, to remember (First): That the actions of human beings are not invariably governed by the laws of pure reason.

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"Every elevation of the type 'man,'" he writes in "Beyond Good and Evil", "has hitherto been the work of an aristocratic society--and so will it always be--a society believing in a long scale of gradations of rank and differences of worth among human beings."

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It is also from natural causes that some beings command and others obey, that each may obtain their mutual safety; for a being who is endowed with a mind capable of reflection and forethought is by nature the superior and governor, whereas he whose excellence is merely corporeal is formect to be a slave; whence it follows that the different state of master [1252b] and slave is equally advantageous to both.