BEING

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does being mean? 

• BEING (noun)
  The noun BEING has 2 senses:

1. the state or fact of existing

2. a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently

  Familiarity information: BEING used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state or fact of existing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

being; beingness; existence; face of the earth

Context example:

he appeared on the face of the earth one day

Hypernyms ("being" is a kind of...):

state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)

Attribute:

existent; existing (having existence or being or actuality)

nonexistent (not having existence or being or actuality)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "being"):

possibility; possibleness (capability of existing or happening or being true)

transcendence; transcendency (a state of being or existence above and beyond the limits of material experience)

life (a characteristic state or mode of living)

aliveness; animation; life; living (the condition of living or the state of being alive)

life (the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living)

presence (the state of being present; current existence)

subsistence (the state of existing in reality; having substance)

coexistence (existing peacefully together)

preexistence (existing in a former state or previous to something else)

eternity; timeless existence; timelessness (a state of eternal existence believed in some religions to characterize the afterlife)

actuality (the state of actually existing objectively)

Antonym:

nonbeing (the state of not being)

Derivation:

be (have an existence, be extant)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Synonyms:

being; organism

Hypernyms ("being" is a kind of...):

animate thing; living thing (a living (or once living) entity)

Meronyms (parts of "being"):

body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)

cell ((biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life (as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants and animals)

Meronyms (substance of "being"):

tissue (part of an organism consisting of an aggregate of cells having a similar structure and function)

Domain member category:

fertilized ovum; zygote ((genetics) the diploid cell resulting from the union of a haploid spermatozoon and ovum (including the organism that develops from that cell))

morphogenesis (differentiation and growth of the structure of an organism (or a part of an organism))

bioluminescent ((of living organisms) emitting light)

cellular (characterized by or divided into or containing cells or compartments (the smallest organizational or structural unit of an organism or organization))

actinal ((of radiate organisms) located on the surface or end on which the mouth is situated)

stratum (one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock))

organic chemistry (the chemistry of compounds containing carbon (originally defined as the chemistry of substances produced by living organisms but now extended to substances synthesized artificially))

parthenote (a cell resulting from parthenogenesis)

metabolic process; metabolism (the organic processes (in a cell or organism) that are necessary for life)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "being"):

mascot (a character, animal or object that is adopted by a team or group as a symbolic figure)

nekton (the aggregate of actively swimming animals in a body of water ranging from microscopic organisms to whales)

parasite (an animal or plant that lives in or on a host (another animal or plant); it obtains nourishment from the host without benefiting or killing the host)

host (an animal or plant that nourishes and supports a parasite; it does not benefit and is often harmed by the association)

commensal (either of two different animal or plant species living in close association but not interdependent)

myrmecophile (an organism such as an insect that habitually shares the nest of a species of ant)

eucaryote; eukaryote (an organism with cells characteristic of all life forms except primitive microorganisms such as bacteria; i.e. an organism with 'good' or membrane-bound nuclei in its cells)

procaryote; prokaryote (a unicellular organism having cells lacking membrane-bound nuclei; bacteria are the prime example but also included are blue-green algae and actinomycetes and mycoplasma)

zooid (one of the distinct individuals forming a colonial animal such as a bryozoan or hydrozoan)

clon; clone (a group of genetically identical cells or organisms derived from a single cell or individual by some kind of asexual reproduction)

atavist; throwback (an organism that has the characteristics of a more primitive type of that organism)

individual (a single organism)

dwarf (a plant or animal that is atypically small)

mutant; mutation; sport; variation ((biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration)

postdiluvian (anything living after Noah's flood)

sitter (an organism (person or animal) that sits)

stander (an organism (person or animal) that stands)

utterer; vocaliser; vocalizer (an organism that can utter vocal sounds)

fungus (an organism of the kingdom Fungi lacking chlorophyll and feeding on organic matter; ranging from unicellular or multicellular organisms to spore-bearing syncytia)

nonvascular organism (organisms without vascular tissue: e.g. algae, lichens, fungi, mosses)

relict (an organism or species surviving as a remnant of an otherwise extinct flora or fauna in an environment much changed from that in which it originated)

saprophyte; saprophytic organism (an organism that feeds on dead organic matter especially a fungus or bacterium)

saprobe (an organism that lives in and derives its nourishment from organic matter in stagnant or foul water)

katharobe (an organism that lives in an oxygenated medium lacking organic matter)

congenator; congener; congeneric; relative (an animal or plant that bears a relationship to another (as related by common descent or by membership in the same genus))

benthos (organisms (plants and animals) that live at or near the bottom of a sea)

heterotroph (an organism that depends on complex organic substances for nutrition)

parent (an organism (plant or animal) from which younger ones are obtained)

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

native (indigenous plants and animals)

recombinant (a cell or organism in which genetic recombination has occurred)

conspecific (an organism belonging to the same species as another organism)

carrier ((genetics) an organism that possesses a recessive gene whose effect is masked by a dominant allele; the associated trait is not apparent but can be passed on to offspring)

denizen (a plant or animal naturalized in a region)

diploid ((genetics) an organism or cell having the normal amount of DNA per cell; i.e., two sets of chromosomes or twice the haploid number)

plankton (the aggregate of small plant and animal organisms that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or salt water)

polymorph (an organism that can assume more than one adult form as in the castes of ants or termites)

cross; crossbreed; hybrid ((genetics) an organism that is the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock; especially offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties or breeds or species)

anaerobe (an organism (especially a bacterium) that does not require air or free oxygen to live)

aerobe (an organism (especially a bacterium) that requires air or free oxygen for life)

animalcule; animalculum (microscopic organism such as an amoeba or paramecium)

polyploid ((genetics) an organism or cell having more than twice the haploid number of chromosomes)

heteroploid ((genetics) an organism or cell having a chromosome number that is not an even multiple of the haploid chromosome number for that species)

haploid ((genetics) an organism or cell having only one complete set of chromosomes)

amphidiploid ((genetics) an organism or cell having a diploid set of chromosomes from each parent)

micro-organism; microorganism (any organism of microscopic size)

Derivation:

be (have life, be alive)

 Context examples 

My dearest Mina,—I must say you tax me very unfairly with being a bad correspondent.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Recent developments in genetic modification (GM) technology include a way to prevent the popular Cavendish banana variety from being wiped out by the Fusarium wilt fungus.

(GM tech expands with more crops to more countries, SciDev.Net)

This suggested that the immunising RNA fragments were being passed among colony members as well as across generations.

(Discovery of RNA transfer through royal jelly could aid development of honey bee vaccines, University of Cambridge)

A substance being studied in the treatment of cancer.

(A6, NCI Dictionary)

Drugs or substances that affect this pathway are being studied in the prevention and treatment of some diseases.

(ABCA1 pathway, NCI Dictionary)

Thornton came to, belly downward and being violently propelled back and forth across a drift log by Hans and Pete.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A substance being studied in the treatment of several types of cancer.

(Abexinostat, NCI Dictionary)

It is being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

(ABI-007, NCI Dictionary)

A substance being studied in the treatment of some types of cancer and other conditions.

(Abegrin, NCI Dictionary)

Lindsay points out that dogs are already being used to sniff out diseases like cancers, and Parkinson's disease.

(The Dog's Nose Knows Malaria, Kevin Enochs/VOA)