ousía

From ὤν, οὖσᾰ, ὄν (ṓn, oûsa, ón, “being”), the present participle of εἰμῐ́ (eimí) (“to be”), + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, abstract noun suffix).

Pronunciation

[ more ▼] 

• IPA^(key): /uː.sí.aː/ → /uˈsi.a/ → /uˈsi.a/

Noun

οὐσίᾱ • (ousíā) f (genitive οὐσίᾱς); first declension

1. that which is one's own, one's substance, property [ quotations ▼]
2. (philosophy) Synonym of φύσις (phúsis) stable being, immutable reality [ quotations ▼]
   1. substance, essence [ quotations ▼]
   2. true nature of that which is a member of a kind [ quotations ▼]
   3. the possession of such a nature, substantiality [ quotations ▼]
   4. (in the concrete) the primary real, the substratum underlying all change and process in nature [ quotations ▼]
   5. (logic) substance as the leading category [ quotations ▼]
   6. (various uses after Plato and Aristotle) [ quotations ▼]
   7. Pythagorean name for I [ quotations ▼]
3. name of a plaster [ quotations ▼]
4. a fire-resisting substance [ quotations ▼]
5. (in magic) a material thing by which a connection is established between the person to be acted upon and the supernatural agent