οὐσί-α,
Ion. -ιη Hdt. 1.92, 6.86. ά, SIG 167.26 (Mylasa, iv B. C.); Dor. ἐσσία, ὠσία (qq. v.): ἡ: (ὀντ-, part. of εἰμί sum): -
I that which is one’s own, one’s substance, property, Hdt. ll.cc., S. Tr. 911 (s. v. l.), E. HF 337, Hel. 1253 (pl., Fr. 354 (s. v. l.)), Ar. Ec. 729, Lys. 18.17, Pl. R. 551b, SIG l.c., etc.; opp. τὰ σώματα (civil status), And. 1.74; καλῶς.. ἐπεμελήθη τῶν οὐσιῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δημάρχου BSA 24.154 (Attica, iv B.C.); εἰ ἐκεκτήμην οὐ. if I had been a man of substance, Lys. 24.11; ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐ. δαπανᾶν Diph. 32.7; πατρῴαν οὐ. κατεσθίειν Anaxipp. 1.32, cf. Critias 45 D.; φανερὰ οὐσία real property, immovables, And. 1.118; opp. ἀφανής, Lys. 32.4; freq. of estates in Egypt, PTeb. 6.23 (ii B. C., pl.), BGU 650.3 (i A. D.), OGI 665.30 (i A. D.), etc.
II
1. in Philos., like Ion. φύσις (with which it is interchanged in various uses, e. g. Philol. 11, Pl. R. 359a, 359b, Arist. PA 646a25, Thphr. HP 6.1.1), stable being, immutable reality, opp. γένεσις, ὅτιπερ πρὸς γένεσιν οὐσία, τοῦτο πρὸς πίστιν ἀλήθεια Pl. Ti. 29c, cf. Sph. 232c; ὧν κίνησις γένεσιν παραλαβοῦσα ἀέναον οὐ. ἐπόρισεν Id. Lg. 966e; γένεσις μὲν τὸ σπέρμα, οὐ. δὲ τὸ τέλος Arist. PA 641b32, cf. 640a18, etc.; ὁδὸς εἰς οὐσίαν Id. Metaph. 1003b7: hence, being in the abstract, opp. non-being (τὸ μὴ εἶναι), Pl. Tht. 185c.
2. substance, essence, opp. πάθη (’modes’), Id. Euthphr. 11a; πάθη οὐσίας Arist. Metaph. 1003b7; opp. συμβεβηκότα (’accidents’), Id. APo. 83a24, PA 643a27; ἡ φύσις [τῆς ψυχῆς] καὶ ἡ οὐ., εἶθ’ ὅσα συμβέβηκε περὶ αὐτήν Id. de An. 402a8.
3. true nature of that which is a member of a kind, defined as ὃ τυγχάνει ἕκαστον ὄν Pl. Phd. 65d; as τὸ ὅ ἐστι ib. 92d; as τὸ τί ἐστι Arist. APo. 90b30; τὸ εἶναί τε καὶ τὴν οὐ. Pl. R. 509b; expressed in a formula or definition, ψυχῆς οὐ. τε καὶ λόγον Id. Phdr. 245e; τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι οὗ ὁ λόγος ὁρισμός, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ. λέγεται Arist. Metaph. 1017b22; μόνης τῆς οὐ. ἐστὶν ὁ ὁρισμός ib. 1031a1.
4. the possession of such a nature, substantiality, ἔτι ἐπέκεινα τῆς οὐ. πρεσβείᾳ.. ὑπερέχοντος Pl. R. 509b.
5. in the concrete, the primary real, the substratum underlying all change and process in nature, applied by Arist. to the atoms of Democritus, Fr. 208; to τὰ ἁπλᾶ σώματα Id. Cael. 298a29, cf. Metaph. 1017b10; πᾶσαι αἱ φυσικαὶ οὐ. ἢ σώματα ἢ μετὰ σωμάτων γίγνονται Id. Cael. 298b3, al.; ταὐτὸν σῶμα καὶ οὐσίαν ὁριζόμενοι Pl. Sph. 246a; but also, νοητὰ ἄττα καὶ ἀσώματα εἴδη.. τὴν ἀληθινὴν οὐ. ib.b.
6. in Logic, substance as the leading category, Arist. Cat. 1b26, Metaph. 1045b29; αἱ πρῶται οὐ. (individuals), αἱ δεύτεραι οὐ. (species and genera), Id. Cat. 2b5, 2a15 (but ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὁ ἵππος.. οὐκ ἔστιν οὐ. ἀλλὰ σύνολόν τι Id. Metaph. 1035b29, cf. σύνθετος or συνθέτη οὐ. ib. 1043a30, de An. 412a16); ἡ μὲν ψυχὴ οὐ. ἡ πρώτη, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ὕλη Id. Metaph. 1037a5; ἡ ψυχὴ οὐ. ὡς εἶδος Id. de An. 412a19; ἡ οὐ. ἐντελέχεια ib. 21; [ ψυχὴ] οὐ. τοῦ ἐμψύχου Id. Metaph. 1035b15; of the abstract objects of mathematics, μονὰς οὐ. ἄθετος, στιγμὴ δὲ οὐ. θετός Id. APo. 87a36.
7. after Pl. and Arist. in various uses, as ἡ ἄποιος οὐ., = ἡ ὕλη, Zeno Stoic. 1.24; κατὰ οὐσίαν, opp. κατὰ δύναμιν ἢ ἐνέργειαν, Polystr.p.12 W.; πᾶς νοῦς ἀμέριστός ἐστιν οὐ. Procl. Inst. 171, cf. Plot. 2.4.5, 2.6.1, 4.7.8, 6.1.2, al.
8. Pythag. name for I, Theol.Ar. 6.
III name of a plaster, Aët. 15.15,45. αἱ οὐ. fireresisting substances, Zos.Alch.p.168 B.; of the four σώματα (copper, tin, lead, iron), Ps.-Democr. ap. eund. p.167 B. in Magic, a material thing by which a connexion is established between the person to be acted upon and the supernatural agent, e.g. a hair, λαβὼν βελόνην διείρων τὴν οὐ. εἰς αὐτήν PMag.Par. 1.2949, cf. PMag.Osl. 1.73; mould from a tomb, PMag.Par. 1.435; κυνοκεφάλου οὐ.,.. κυνὸς οὐ., = κόπρος (cf. 2460), ib.2687, etc.