Meaning

noun the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

noun any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted

noun the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

originFrom Middle English essence, from Middle French essence, from Latin essentia (“the being or essence of a thing”), from an artificial formation of esse (“to be”), to translate Ancient Greek οὐσία (ousía, “being”), from ὤν (ṓn), present participle of εἰμί (eimí, “to be, exist”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0