existential.
Of or relating to existence.
Meaning & usage
Of or relating to existence.
Of or relating to existence. Concerning the very existence of something, especially with regard to evading extinction.
an existential risk or threat
Of or relating to existence. Of an assertion, etc.: assuming or suggesting the existence of something.
Of or relating to existentialism (“a philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices”).
Relating to part of a clause that indicates existence (for example, there is).
Where this word comes from
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin existentiālis, exsistentiālis (“coming into or relating to existence”) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming nouns of verbal action). Existentiālis, exsistentiālis are derived from Late Latin existentia, exsistentia (“existence”) + Latin -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); and existentia, exsistentia from Latin existēns, exsistēns (“being, existing; appearing, emerging; becoming”) (the present active participle of existō, exsistō (“to be, exist; to appear, emerge; to become”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + sistō (“to cause to stand; to place, set; to halt, stop”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”))) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). The noun is derived from the adjective.
Ellipsis of existential clause (“a clause that indicates the existence of something”).
Ellipsis of existential type (“in a type system: a type that hides the underlying concrete type(s)”).
Where this word comes from
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin existentiālis, exsistentiālis (“coming into or relating to existence”) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming nouns of verbal action). Existentiālis, exsistentiālis are derived from Late Latin existentia, exsistentia (“existence”) + Latin -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); and existentia, exsistentia from Latin existēns, exsistēns (“being, existing; appearing, emerging; becoming”) (the present active participle of existō, exsistō (“to be, exist; to appear, emerge; to become”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + sistō (“to cause to stand; to place, set; to halt, stop”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”))) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). The noun is derived from the adjective.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.