exist

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exist

/ɪɡˈzɪst/
[ɪɡˈzɪst]
/əɡˈzɪst/
[əɡˈzɪst]

Rhymes with -ɪst

Where it comes from

From French exister, from Latin existō, exsistō (“I am, I exist, appear, arise”), from ex (“out”) + sistere (“to set, place”) (related to stare (“to stand, to be stood”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti, from the root *steh₂- (“stand”); see stand. Compare assist, consist, desist, insist, persist, resist. Cognate with Spanish existir, French exister, Italian esistere, German existieren.

verb exists · existing · existed · exist

intransitive, stative to be; have existence; have being or reality Cognitive dissonance exists when a person possesses two cognitions, one of which is contradictory to the other
Similar: be, be a thing, consist, exist, subsist

Opposite: cease, unexist, void

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: be, live, subsist, survive, existence, presence, consist, present, coexist, appear, fitted, occur, extant, available, happen, operate

verb

Opposite: cease, unexist, void

Translations

Every language

verb to be

Español	existir
한국어	존재(存在)하다 jonjaehada
日本語	存在する sonzai suru
中文	存在 cúnzài
हिन्दी	अस्तित्व astitva
Português	existir
Français	exister
Deutsch	bestehen, existieren
Italiano	esistere
Ελληνικά	υπάρχω ypárcho, υφίσταμαι yfístamai
Română	exista
Русский	существова́ть suščestvovátʹ
Tiếng Việt	tồn tại
العربية	وُجِدَ wujida
עברית	הִתְקַיֵּם hitkayém

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MLA

"exist." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/exist. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

exist. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/exist

Chicago

"exist." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/exist.

BibTeX

@misc{exist_2026,
  title = {exist},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/exist},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}