Haecceity

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Hallo, folks!

Apologies for not being present last Thursday, but I had a killer headache and could only drag myself out of a dark room long enough to email our friendly mod and down some asprin. But I'm fine now, and back in form (I hope)!

Today's WotT (Word of the Thursday!) is one of my favourites:

Haecceity [haec-ce-ity; pron hak-see'i-tee]
noun

The description is a bit hard to explain, but it's the aspect of existence on which individuality depends; the hereness and nowness of reality, pertaining to a person or a thing.

First coined by the philosopher Duns Scotus, haecceity is that sense one gets of being in the present tense, the pure experience of a single moment in time or the very core of what a person or object is.

Etymology:
Latin, from haec, meaning this.

Usage:
Tom's printer's nature was pretty much like that of all others, except that printing Rs upside down was a part of its haecceity.