unbeing

noun, adj — 3 senses

unbeing

noun

/ʌnˈbiːɪŋ/

Etymology From Middle English unbeing, equivalent to un- + being.

1

Nonexistence.

  • What we fear most is not death itself but the prospect of not being, or rather of unbeing, a state where we altogether cease to exist. The idea of unbeing is so alien to us that we find it almost impossible to conceive.1997, Migene González-Wippler, What happens after death, page 3:
2

A nonbeing; an entity of no existence or significance.

  • The house is pale as though its life-blood were sucked and the Cabots reduced to unbeings.1987, Hari Mohan Prasad, The Dramatic Art of Eugene O'Neill, page 23:

unbeing

adj

Etymology From Middle English unbeing, equivalent to un- + being.

1

Obsolete Not in existence, nonexistent.

  • Beings yet unbeingc. 1670s (date written), Thomas Brown [i.e., Thomas Browne], “(please specify the section)”, in John Jeffery, editor, Christian Morals, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] [A]t the University-Press, for Cornelius Crownfield printer to the University; and are to be sold by Mr. Knapton […]; and Mr. [John] Morphew […], published 1716, →OCLC:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.