From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishquintessencequin‧tes‧sence /kwɪnˈtesəns/ noun → the quintessence of something
Examples from the Corpus
quintessence• Mercury was believed to possess magical properties and some regarded it as the quintessence of the human body and of all substances.• Newell and Simon wanted to know how our brains and minds function; they wanted to discover the quintessence of intelligence.• Consciousness rather than inanimate matter is the quintessence of his natural world.• Well, she thought the caravan was the quintessence of OK-ness.Origin quintessence (1400-1500) Old French quinte essence, from Medieval Latin quinta essentia “fifth essence”; because it was in addition to the four elements earth, air, fire, and water 