self-existent

UK/ˌsɛlfɛɡzˈɪstənt/

adjective

Existing without having been created.

OriginEnglish existent ← Middle English self- ← Old English self- →
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Meanings

adjectiveself-existent (not comparable)
  1. not comparableExisting without having been created.
  2. not comparableExisting independent of any extrinsic sustaining force.

    Campbell exquisitely says, "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view:" and let the heart be thankful from its inmost depths for that imaginative and self-existent faculty which first lends enchantment to the distance.

    1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 89

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
aseitous

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishexistent
  9. Englishself-existent

From self- + existent.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

self-existent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-existent

MLA

“self-existent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-existent. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-existent,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-existent.

Source: self-existent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.