Sein

Deverbal from sein (“to be”).

• IPA^(key): /zaɪ̯n/ (Germany)

  • Audio:

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    (Germany)

• IPA^(key): /saɪ̯n/, [saɛ̯n] (Austria, Southern Germany, Switzerland)
• Rhymes: -aɪ̯n

Sein n (strong, genitive Seins, no plural)

1. existence, being, essence (the state and the conditions of being, existing, occurring)
   • 1798, August Wilhelm Schlegel, transl., Hamlet‎^[1], translation of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, [Act III, scene i]:

     Sein oder Nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage

     To be, or not to be, that is the question

• While Existenz means only the fact of being, Sein includes the how and why of being.

• “Sein” in Duden online
• “Sein” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache