Essence
in philosophy, originally the same as substance. Later, substance came to be used for the undetermined substratum of a thing, essence for the qualities expressed in the definition of a thing; or, as Locke put it, "Essence may be taken for the very being of a thing, whereby it is what it is."
In chemistry, and in popular parlance, essences are solutions of the essential oils in alcohol. The term has, however, received a wider significance, and is applied to any liquid possessing the properties of the substance of which it professes to be the essence. Thus essences of coffee, beef, and rennet contain in a concentrated form the virtues of coffee, beef, and rennet.
ESSENES (ěs-senz'), or ESSÆANS, a sect among the Jews, the origin of which is unknown, as well as the etymology of their name. It appears to have sprung up in the course of the century preceding the Christian era, and disappeared on the dispersion of the Jews after the siege of Jerusalem. They were remarkable for their strictness and abstinence, and had a rule of life analogous to that of a monastic order. oject-