being (subs.) Copy link Outline I. Existence (no precise word)II. A person1. hŏmo, ĭnis, c. (a human b.)2. nātūra (late) • being (subs.): I. Existence (no precise word): Phr.: to deny the b. of the gods, deos esse negare; deos s. deorum naturam tollere, Cic. (N.B. The substantive existentia belongs to modern writers: the infin. existere sometimes takes its place: as, to the nature of substance pertains b., *ad naturam substantiae pertinet existere, Spinosa.) II. A person: 1. hŏmo, ĭnis, c. (a human b.): I am a human b. and think nothing relating to man uninteresting to myself, h. sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto, Ter.: the mother's stupidity is such that no one can call her a rational b., matris ea stultitia est ut eam nemo hominem appellare possit, Cic. 2. nātūra (late): every intelligent b., omnis intelligens n., Arnob. 1., 31. (N.B. The subs. ens belongs to the language of the school-men.) Phr.: to regard the gods as finite b.s, *deos finita natura esse credere: O thou august b., *O tu numen augustum (v. power): no finite b. is eternal, *nihil quod est natura finitum, est aeternum. The Supreme Being: *ille optimus et maximus; numen illud maximum atque supremum.