being

Less common meanings

4. 4
   inner naturenounusually singular

   One's basic nature; the essential qualities of a person's character or personality.

   The music seemed to touch the deepest part of her being.

   He devoted his entire being to the cause of reform.

   UsageUsually with a possessive: her whole being, my very being.

   Similarsoul, self, essence

   Note

   Where the sense of existence says that someone is, this one says what they are: the core of a person rather than the fact of their life.

5. 5
   becauseconjunctiondialectal

   Used to introduce a reason or cause; given that or since.

   Being that the store was closed on Sunday, we had to wait until Monday.

   Being that she knew the city well, she offered to show us around.

   UsageUsually being that + clause. In writing, since or because is far more common.

   Similarsince, because, as

   Note

   A participle that hardened into a conjunction. The participle in being tired has no subject of its own, but this being introduces a full clause that does, as in "'Tis a hard matter therefore to confine them, being they are so various and many." That clause is the test. In being tired, she left, being is a participle. In being the roads were closed, it is a conjunction. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Participial being can have an explicit subject in an absolute construction, as in “The children being hungry, I set about preparing tea.” en.wikipedia.org
   • The quoted wording is authentic. gutenberg.org
6. 6
   any real thingnouncountable

   Whatever is actual, in physical form or as a concept; an existing thing.

   Metaphysics studies what it means for something to count as a being.

   For Plato, the abstract forms were beings as real as any physical object.

   Similarentity

   Note

   Philosophy's widest category: a being is anything that has actuality. It can be a stone, a mind, or a concept. Unlike the living-creature sense, nothing here needs to be alive or conscious. Real existence is enough. In ordinary speech, a strange being means a creature. In metaphysics, the same phrase could just as well describe an abstract object. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Being is philosophy's most general category, encompassing everything that exists. en.wikipedia.org
   • In the specified philosophical sense, a being is anything with actuality, whether material or conceptual. en.wiktionary.org
   • A being in this sense need not be alive or conscious; existence suffices. en.wikipedia.org
   • The metaphysical sense can include abstract objects. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   nounobsoletecountable

   A dwelling place; a cottage or other modest abode.

   It was a relief to dismiss them [Sir Roger's servants] into little beings within my manor.

   1712, [Richard Steele], “MONDAY, November 24, 1712”

   Note

   A lost, concrete use: a being was once simply a place to live, often a humble one. Richard Steele, writing in 1712, sends Sir Roger's servants off "into little beings within my manor," meaning cottages. A modern reader would picture small creatures. Outside historical writing the sense cannot be revived without confusing readers, so it is best recognized rather than used. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • Being formerly meant an abode or cottage. en.wiktionary.org
   • Richard Steele authored the passage in 1712, in The Spectator, number 544. gutenberg.org
   • Steele's passage describes some of Sir Roger's servants being dismissed into little beings within the manor; the quoted wording is accurate with capitalization modernized. gutenberg.org
   • Steele is the author; the first-person words occur in a fictional letter from Captain Sentry. gutenberg.org
   • Beings in this quotation means cottages. en.wiktionary.org