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Essence vs Attribute - What's the difference?

essence | attribute |

As nouns the difference between essence and attribute

is that essence is (inherent nature)The inherent nature of a thing or idea while attribute is a characteristic or quality of a thing.

As a verb attribute is

to ascribe (something) {{term|to}} a given cause, reason etc.

essence

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (senseid)The inherent nature of a thing or idea.
  • * Landor
  • The laws are at present, both in form and essence , the greatest curse that society labours under.
  • * Addison
  • Gifts and alms are the expressions, not the essence of this virtue [charity].
  • * Courthorpe
  • The essence of Addison's humour is irony.
  • (philosophy) The true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory.
  • Constituent substance.
  • * Milton
  • Uncompounded is their essence pure.
  • A being; especially, a purely spiritual being.
  • * Milton
  • As far as gods and heavenly essences / Can perish.
  • * Washington Irving
  • He had been indulging in fanciful speculations on spiritual essences , until he had an ideal world of his own around him.
  • A significant feature of something.
  • The concentrated form of a plant or drug obtained through a distillation process.
  • * essence of Jojoba
  • Fragrance, a perfume.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Nor let the essences exhale.

    Derived terms

    * in essence * of the essence; time is of the essence

    Anagrams

    * ----

    attribute

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A characteristic or quality of a thing.
  • His finest attribute is his kindness.
  • (grammar) A word that qualifies a noun.
  • In the clause "My jacket is more expensive than yours", "My" is the attribute of "jacket".
  • (computing) The applicable option selection; a variable or a value.
  • This packet has its coherency attribute set to zero.
  • (logic) That which is predicated or affirmed of a subject; a predicate; an accident.
  • (computing, programming) A semantic item with which a method, etc. may be decorated.
  • There are some more implementations which use C
  • attribute s to define custom attributes specific to the AOP engine. Then the classes that need to be intercepted will be decorated with these custom attributes.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    () * attributeness * relational attribute

    Verb

    (attribut)
  • To ascribe (something) (to) a given cause, reason etc.
  • * Archbishop Tillotson
  • We attribute nothing to God that hath any repugnancy or contradiction in it.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The merit of service is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer.
  • * 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, p. 278:
  • H?kim's atypical actions should not be attributed to Islam as much as to insanity, which eventually led him to proclaim himself as Allah, whereupon he was murdered by outraged fellow Muslims.
  • To associate ownership or authorship of (something) (to) someone.
  • This poem is attributed to Browning.

    Derived terms

    () * attributable * attribution