ens

Etymology 1

From Late Latin ēns (“thing”), from esse (“to be”). See entity.

noun

1. (philosophy) An entity or being; an existing thing, as opposed to a quality or attribute.
   Forms sphered in fire with trembling light array'd, / Ens without weight, and substance without shade […]. 1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 41
   the Nature of the Supreme Ens 1860, John Henry Macmahon, A treatise on metaphysics: chiefly in reference to revealed religion, page 195
2. (chemistry, alchemy, now historical) Something supposed to condense within itself all the virtues and qualities of a substance from which it is extracted; an essence, an active principle.
   Here he states that there are five ‘active principles’ – the five Enses or entia – that influence our bodies and give rise to disease […] 2006, Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor, Arrow, published 2007, page 245

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

noun

1. plural of en