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Glite Dictionary
thingness

thingness

1 9.9
The basic quality that makes something feel like a single object
  • noun
  • /ˈθɪŋnəs/
  • Literature
translation icon : cualidad
  • Quantum theory, for instance, strips particles of any sense of thingness.

So if you're looking at the greatest possible thing, then you know what you're looking at is if, if this coffee cup is is part of thingness, it is a thing.

Examples

  • Von Bonin's more direct showcasing of the towel's thingness, its tendency to droop when hanging on a wall, kept her work more grounded in the realm of the tactile.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Heidegger believed that art had the great potential to reveal the thingness of objects.

  • This is what gives the the thingness to the thing, right?

  • And this negative space is alive with "thingness."

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The defining feature of the very best songs on the record is their capacity to get past this fascination with the thingness of an experience.

    Blog text (16)

  • We, for whom the thingness of the book is paramount, will not want bland pulp but books we can design and personalize.

    Blog text (22)

  • But Arendt wasn't just talking about objectivity, which she defined philosophically as the thingness of things.

    Academic text (2010)

  • As naive realism gives way to negation, Ch'ing-yuan Wei-hsin realizes that the "thingness" of things is empty.

    Academic text (1999)

  • We, for whom the thingness of the book is paramount, will not want bland pulp but books we can design and personalize.

Synonyms

nature
vsthingness
585 1.0

The basic qualities that show what something is

emphasizes being a distinct object rather than general defining qualities
somethingness
vsthingness
1 9.9

A feeling that something is there even if you cannot see it

focuses on distinct objectness rather than mere presence or existence
suchness
vsthingness
  • Formal
1 9.9

The basic way something really is without judging it

focuses on being a distinct object rather than accepting items as they are
thing-in-itself
vsthingness
  • Specialized
1 9.9

What something really is apart from how people see it

does not focus on independence from perception but on what makes items distinct
thinginess
vsthingness
  • Literature
9.9

The quality that makes an object feel separate and real

is the same meaning but appears as a different word form
haecceity
vsthingness
  • Specialized
9.9

A quality that makes a person or thing clearly different from all others

focuses on general essential nature rather than uniqueness of one item
thisness
vsthingness
  • Specialized
9.9

The quality that makes something different from all others

stresses distinct objectness rather than unique personal identity
objecthood
vsthingness
  • Specialized
9.1

Being a thing rather than a person or subject

is broader and covers essential qualities that make an item distinct beyond entity status

Surface Forms

thingness singular
thingnesses plural

Morphology

thingness = thing (transparent) = thing + ness

The suffix '-ness' is a standard way to form nouns indicating a state or quality from adjectives or nouns.

Etymology

The word thingness is made from thing ('object') and the ending -ness ('state' or 'quality'). So thingness means the quality or state that makes something a separate object — what makes it truly a 'thing'.