entity

en·ti·ty
E1N1T1I1T1Y4
US/ˈɛn.tə.ti/ [-tʰi]UK/ˈɛn.tɪt.i/

noun

That which has a distinct existence as an individual unit, often used for organizations which have no physical form.

“The group successfully maintains its tribal entity.”

Similar
CommonScrabble 9

Meanings

entity1

nounentity (plural entities)

plural entities

  1. That which has a distinct existence as an individual unit, often used for organizations which have no physical form.

    The organisational and administrative tasks involved in welding the railways into a single entity have also received much publicity.

    1951 April, D. S. Barrie, “British Railways: A Survey, 1948-1950”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 223
    3 more examples

    It is also pertinent to note that the current obvious decline in work on holarctic hepatics most surely reflects a current obsession with cataloging and with nomenclature of the organisms—as divorced from their study as living entities.

    1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page ix

    Weinersmith, who is best known for his webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, describes the polystate as a geopolitical entity in which multiple overlapping states exist — but each “state” consists of citizens who have agreed to the laws of a single non-geographic state; typical geographically-bound nations, or traditional “geostates”, would be replaced by “polystates”, which are collections of “anthrostates”.

    2014 June 12, George Dvorsky, “12 Futuristic Forms of Government That Could One Day Rule the World”, in Gizmodo

    The monitor overseeing the Trump Organization’s finances wrote in its latest report that Donald Trump’s company intends to create 25 new entities for products or hotel licensing deals.

    2024 October 23, Kara Scannell, “Trump Organization intends to create 25 entities for future product or hotel licensing deals, monitor says”, in CNN
  2. The existence of something considered apart from its properties.
  3. computingAnything about which information or data can be stored in a database; in particular, one item in an organised array or set of individual elements or parts of the same type.
  4. The state or quality of being or existence.

    The group successfully maintains its tribal entity.

  5. A spirit, ghost, or the like.

    [B]ut only too often séances degenerate into pure sorcery or necromancy, attracting all kinds of undeveloped and earth-bound entities.

    1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 231
  6. literatureAn alien lifeform that has no corporeal body.

Entity2

proper nounthe Entity
  1. The central intelligence agency of the Holy See, which conducts foreign intelligence for the Vatican City and Catholic Church.

    Synonyms: SIV

  2. derogatoryslangIsrael (synonym of Zionist Entity).
    1. broadlyderogatoryslangsometimesThe United States and Israel, or the West as a whole, when viewed as synonymous with Israel.

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe central intelligence agency of the Holy See, which conducts foreign intelligence for the Vatican City and Catholic Church.

Similar

Origin

entity · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁es-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ésti
  3. Proto-Indo-European*bʰuH-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*bʰúHt
  5. Proto-Italic*ezom~*som
  6. Old Latinesum
  7. Latinsumbf.
  8. Latinēns
  9. Medieval Latinentitās
  10. Englishentity

From the Medieval Latin entitās, from ēns (“being”) (stem: ent-) + -tās (compare essentia), see there for more information.

Full word history & related roots →

Entity · proper noun

  1. Italianl'Entità
  2. EnglishEntity

* (Vatican intelligence): Translation of Italian l'Entità. * (Israel): Ellipsis of Zionist entity.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ὀντότης
  • ὀντότης (ontótēs)that which exists as an individual unit
Arabic كِيَان
  • كِيَان (kiyān)that which exists as an individual unit
Bulgarian същество́, съществу́ване
  • същество́ (săštestvó)that which exists as an individual unit
  • съществу́ване (săštestvúvane)state or quality of existence
Catalan entitat
  • entitatthat which exists as an individual unit
Chinese Mandarin 實體 /实体, 整體 /整体
  • 實體 /实体 (shítǐ)that which exists as an individual unit
  • 整體 /整体 (zhěngtǐ)that which exists as an individual unit
  • 本體 /本体 (běntǐ)existence of something considered apart from its properties
  • 資料物件 /资料物件computing: anything about which data can be stored
  • 存在性 (cúnzàixìng)state or quality of existence
  • 幽靈 /幽灵 (yōulíng)spirit, ghost, or the like
  • 生命體 /生命体 (shēngmìngtǐ)(science fiction) alien lifeform that has no corporeal body
Czech entita, entita
  • entitathat which exists as an individual unit
  • entitaexistence of something considered apart from its properties
Danish entitet
  • entitetthat which exists as an individual unit
Dutch entiteit, wezen
  • entiteitthat which exists as an individual unit
  • wezenthat which exists as an individual unit
Esperanto ento, ento
  • entothat which exists as an individual unit
  • entoexistence of something considered apart from its properties
  • entostate or quality of existence
Finnish olento, olio
  • olentothat which exists as an individual unit
  • oliothat which exists as an individual unit
  • kokonaisuusthat which exists as an individual unit
  • entiteettithat which exists as an individual unit
  • olioexistence of something considered apart from its properties
  • olentoexistence of something considered apart from its properties
  • entiteettiexistence of something considered apart from its properties
  • entiteetticomputing: anything about which data can be stored
  • tietokohdecomputing: anything about which data can be stored
  • kohdecomputing: anything about which data can be stored
  • olemassaolostate or quality of existence
  • kummitusspirit, ghost, or the like
French entité, entité
  • entitéthat which exists as an individual unit
  • entitéexistence of something considered apart from its properties
  • entitécomputing: anything about which data can be stored
German Wesen, Einheit
  • Wesenthat which exists as an individual unit
  • Einheitthat which exists as an individual unit
  • Gebildethat which exists as an individual unit
  • Entitätthat which exists as an individual unit
  • Instanzthat which exists as an individual unit
  • Rechtspersönlichkeitthat which exists as an individual unit
  • Entitätcomputing: anything about which data can be stored
  • Daseinstate or quality of existence
  • Existenzstate or quality of existence
  • Gebildespirit, ghost, or the like
  • Wesenspirit, ghost, or the like
  • Dingspirit, ghost, or the like
Greek οντότητα, οντότητα
  • οντότητα (ontótita)that which exists as an individual unit
  • οντότητα (ontótita)computing: anything about which data can be stored
Hebrew יְשׁוּת
  • יְשׁוּת (yeshút)that which exists as an individual unit
Hindi अस्तित्वी
  • अस्तित्वी (astitvī)that which exists as an individual unit
Irish aonán, eintiteas
  • aonánthat which exists as an individual unit
  • eintiteasthat which exists as an individual unit
  • aonáncomputing: anything about which data can be stored
Italian soggetto, entità
  • soggettothat which exists as an individual unit
  • entitàthat which exists as an individual unit
  • entitàexistence of something considered apart from its properties
  • elementocomputing: anything about which data can be stored
  • esistenzastate or quality of existence
Japanese 実体
  • 実体 (jittai)that which exists as an individual unit
Korean 실재
  • 실재 (siljae)that which exists as an individual unit
Lithuanian subjektas, esybė
  • subjektasthat which exists as an individual unit
  • esybėthat which exists as an individual unit
Māori hinonga, rangatōpū
  • hinongathat which exists as an individual unit
  • rangatōpūthat which exists as an individual unit
  • hinongaexistence of something considered apart from its properties
Polish jednostka, istnienie
  • jednostkathat which exists as an individual unit
  • istnieniethat which exists as an individual unit
  • istnienieexistence of something considered apart from its properties
  • istnieniestate or quality of existence
Portuguese entidade, entidade
  • entidadethat which exists as an individual unit
  • entidadeexistence of something considered apart from its properties
Russian существо́, объе́кт
  • существо́ (suščestvó)that which exists as an individual unit
  • объе́кт (obʺjékt)that which exists as an individual unit
  • су́щность (súščnostʹ)existence of something considered apart from its properties
  • су́щность (súščnostʹ)computing: anything about which data can be stored
  • существова́ние (suščestvovánije)state or quality of existence
  • бытие́ (bytijé)state or quality of existence
Slovak entita, entita
  • entitathat which exists as an individual unit
  • entitaexistence of something considered apart from its properties
Spanish entidad, entidad
  • entidadthat which exists as an individual unit
  • entidadexistence of something considered apart from its properties
Ukrainian об'є́кт, істо́та
  • об'є́кт (obʺjékt)that which exists as an individual unit
  • істо́та (istóta)that which exists as an individual unit
  • су́тність (sútnistʹ)existence of something considered apart from its properties
  • існува́ння (isnuvánnja)state or quality of existence
Urdu ہستی
  • ہستی (hasti)that which exists as an individual unit
Welsh endid
  • endidthat which exists as an individual unit
Cite this entry
APA

entity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entity

MLA

“entity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entity. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “entity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entity.

Source: entity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.