self-existent

self-existent

English

Etymology

    From self- + existent.

    Pronunciation

    • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌsɛlfɛɡzˈɪstənt/

    Adjective

    self-existent (not comparable)

    1. Existing without having been created.
    2. Existing independent of any extrinsic sustaining force.
      • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Romance and Reality. [], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, [], →OCLC, page 89:
        Campbell exquisitely says, "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view:" and let the heart be thankful from its inmost depths for that imaginative and self-existent faculty which first lends enchantment to the distance.

    See also