nothingness
English
Etymology
From nothing + -ness.
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
nothingness (usually uncountable, plural nothingnesses)
- The state of nonexistence; the condition of being nothing.
- 1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] [T. Miller] for Taylor and Hessey, […], OCLC 1467112, lines 1–5, page 3:
- A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness; but still will keep / A bower quiet for us, and a sleep / Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
- 2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London, page R11:
- In 1928 [Martin] Heidegger succeeded [Edmund] Husserl to take a chair at Freiburg and in his inaugural lecture made a pronouncement that earned him a reputation as an archetypal metaphysician with his claim that our awareness of people as a whole depends on our experience of dread in the face of nothingness.
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- A void; an emptiness.
- The quality of inconsequentiality; the lack of significance.
Synonyms
- (state of nonexistence): nihility; See also Thesaurus:inexistence
Antonyms
- (state of nonexistence): existence; See also Thesaurus:existence
Translations
state of nonexistence; the condition of being nothing
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void; emptiness
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quality of inconsequentiality; lacking in significance
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Translations to be checked
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