Learn English – Word for “things which exist”

nounssingle-word-requests

Is there a noun that denotes "things which exist"? The only noun form of existence that I can find/think of is "existence" which is the condition of existing, not the things which do.

It's to summarize the tools for a given task that already exist, in a presentation outline (so it needs to be a single word, but I can't give an example sentence!). The other headings are RCA/Techniques/Lacunae.

ETA: Beings implies a certain amount of animacy, which these things definitely don't have.

Best Answer

Since you are looking for a noun, not an adjective (e.g. extant) or something like "ontology", I suggest either "ens" or "entity".

  • "Ens" is the noun derived from the Latin verb "esse" (to be); its plural form is "entia".

  • "Entity" is derived from "entitas" in Medieval Latin, and ultimately from "ens". See also Wikipedia's definition of entity as "something that exists as itself, as a subject or as an object, actually or potentially, concretely or abstractly, physically or not".