ēns

ēns, zu slat.  Mttlwrt von Vorlage:lat. esse 'sein'.

Etymology

Formed as a present participle of sum (“to be”) in Medieval Latin (and therefore unknown in the Classical period) by using the bare present participial ending -ēns of second and third conjugation verbs, as an analogy to the Ancient Greekpresent participle ὤν (ṓn) which falsely appears to be the same bare suffix but etymologically corresponds to sōns, both from *h₁es- (“to be”). See also essentia for a similar formation.

The original present participle sōns had taken on the meaning "guilty" in the Classical period, but the still productive combining form -sēns present in the verbs absum (absēns (“absent”)) and praesum (praesēns (“present”)) was ignored in creating this form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ens/, [ẽːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ens/, [ɛns]

Noun

ēns n (genitive entis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) being
2. essence
3. existence

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, “pure” i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ēns	entia
Genitive	entis	entium
Dative	entī	entibus
Accusative	ēns	entia
Ablative	entī	entibus
Vocative	ēns	entia

Descendants

• Albanian: ent
• Italian: ente
• Portuguese: ente
• Spanish: ente

—Prtzp

ēns (genitive entis); third-declension one-termination participle

1. being

Declension Third-declension participle.
Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	ēns			entēs	entia
Genitive	entis			entium
Dative	entī			entibus
Accusative	entem	ēns		entēsentīs	entia
Ablative	enteentī1			entibus
Vocative	ēns			entēs	entia

¹When used purely as an adjective.

Wortbildung

• entitās mlat.