Being definition

Being





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6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Be \Be\ (b[=e]), v. i. [imp. {Was} (w[o^]z); p. p. {Been}
     (b[i^]n); p. pr. & vb. n. {Being}.] [OE. been, beon, AS.
     be['o]n to be, be['o]m I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I
     am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. bu-ti, O. Slav.
     by-ti, to be, L. fu-i I have been, fu-turus about to be,
     fo-re to be about to be, and perh. to fieri to become, Gr.


     fy^nai to be born, to be, Skr. bh[=u] to be. This verb is
     defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from
     other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with
     be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are
     considered grammatically as parts of the verb "to be", which,
     with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive
     verb. [root]97. Cf. {Future}, {Physic}.]
     1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have
        existence.
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              To be contents his natural desire.    --Pope.
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              To be, or not to be: that is the question. --Shak.
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     2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a
        reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the
        subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a
        certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or
        as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words
        for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be
        here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a
        hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five;
        annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the
        man.
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     3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.
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     4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.
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              The field is the world.               --Matt. xiii.
                                                    38.
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              The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the
              seven churches.                       --Rev. i. 20.
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     Note: The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is
           used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as,
           John has been struck by James. It is also used with the
           past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a
           state of the subject. But have is now more commonly
           used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different
           sense; as, "Ye have come too late -- but ye are come. "
           "The minstrel boy to the war is gone." The present and
           imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a
           particular future tense, which expresses necessity,
           duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we
           are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed
           to-morrow.
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     Note: Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. "I
           have been to Paris." --Sydney Smith. "Have you been to
           Franchard ?" --R. L. Stevenson.
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     Note: Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the
           indicative present. "Ye ben light of the world."
           --Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in
           our Bible: "They that be with us are more than they
           that be with them." --2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the
           old infinitive: "To ben of such power." --R. of
           Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present
           subjunctive: "But if it be a question of words and
           names." --Acts xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is
           and are, with if, are more commonly used.
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     {Be it so}, a phrase of supposition, equivalent to suppose it
        to be so; or of permission, signifying let it be so.
        --Shak.
  
     {If so be}, in case.
  
     {To be from}, to have come from; as, from what place are you?
        I am from Chicago.
  
     {To let be}, to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone. "Let
        be, therefore, my vengeance to dissuade." --Spenser.
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     Syn: {To be}, {Exist}.
  
     Usage: The verb to be, except in a few rare cases, like that
            of Shakespeare's "To be, or not to be", is used simply
            as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate;
            as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. The verb to
            exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but
            points to things that stand forth, or have a
            substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all
            corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. It is not,
            therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as
            a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers
            for the sake of variety; as in the phrase "there
            exists [is] no reason for laying new taxes." We may,
            indeed, say, "a friendship has long existed between
            them," instead of saying, "there has long been a
            friendship between them;" but in this case, exist is
            not a mere copula. It is used in its appropriate sense
            to mark the friendship as having been long in
            existence.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Being \Be"ing\, p. pr. from {Be}.
     Existing.
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     Note: Being was formerly used where we now use having. "Being
           to go to a ball in a few days." --Miss Edgeworth.
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     Note: In modern usage, is, are, was or were being, with a
           past participle following (as built, made, etc.)
           indicates the process toward the completed result
           expressed by the participle. The form is or was
           building, in this passive signification, is idiomatic,
           and, if free from ambiguity, is commonly preferable to
           the modern is or was being built. The last form of
           speech is, however, sufficiently authorized by approved
           writers. The older expression was is, or was,
           a-building or in building.
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                 A man who is being strangled.      --Lamb.
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                 While the article on Burns was being written.
                                                    --Froude.
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                 Fresh experience is always being gained. --Jowett
                                                    (Thucyd. )
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Being \Be"ing\, adv.
     Since; inasmuch as. [Obs. or Colloq.]
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           And being you have
           Declined his means, you have increased his malice.
                                                    --Beau. & Fl.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Being \Be"ing\, n.
     1. Existence, as opposed to nonexistence; state or sphere of
        existence.
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              In Him we live, and move, and have our being. --Acts
                                                    xvii. 28.
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     2. That which exists in any form, whether it be material or
        spiritual, actual or ideal; living existence, as
        distinguished from a thing without life; as, a human
        being; spiritual beings.
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              What a sweet being is an honest mind ! --Beau. & Fl.
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              A Being of infinite benevolence and power.
                                                    --Wordsworth.
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     3. Lifetime; mortal existence. [Obs.]
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              Claudius, thou
              Wast follower of his fortunes in his being.
                                                    --Webster
                                                    (1654).
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     4. An abode; a cottage. [Prov. Eng.] --Wright.
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              It was a relief to dismiss them [Sir Roger's
              servants] into little beings within my manor.
                                                    --Steele.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  being
       n 1: the state or fact of existing; "a point of view gradually
            coming into being"; "laws in existence for centuries"
            [syn: {beingness}, {existence}] [ant: {nonexistence}, {nonbeing}]
       2: a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act
          or function independently [syn: {organism}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  140 Moby Thesaurus words for "being":
     Adamite, actual, actuality, aerobic organism, an existence,
     anaerobic organism, as, as is, as long as, autotrophic organism,
     body, bones, bosom, breast, cat, cause, chap, character,
     considering, contemporaneous, contemporary, creature, critter,
     current, customer, duck, earthling, ens, entelechy, entity, esprit,
     esse, essence, essentiality, existence, existent, existing, extant,
     fellow, for, fresh, genetic individual, groundling, guts, guy,
     hand, head, heart, heart of hearts, heartstrings,
     heterotrophic organism, homo, human, human being, immanent,
     immediate, in being, in effect, in existence, in force,
     inasmuch as, individual, individuality, inmost heart, inmost soul,
     innermost being, instant, joker, latest, life, living,
     living being, living soul, living thing, man, material,
     materiality, matter, microbe, microorganism, modern, monad,
     morphological individual, mortal, nature, new, nose, object,
     occurrence, on foot, one, ont, organic being, organism,
     organization, party, person, persona, personage, personality,
     physiological individual, presence, present, present-age,
     present-day, present-time, prevalent, running, secret places,
     seeing, since, single, somebody, someone, something, soul, spirit,
     stuff, subsistence, subsistent, subsisting, substance,
     substantiality, tellurian, terran, texture, that be, that is,
     thing, topical, under the sun, unit, up-to-date, up-to-the-minute,
     virus, viscera, whereas, worldling, zooid, zoon
  
  

















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