οὐσί-α,
Ionic dialect -ιη[[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.92, 6.86.ά, “SIG” 167.26 (Mylasa, 4th c.BC)] Refs 5th c.BC+]; Doric dialect ἐσσία, ὠσία (which see): ἡ: (ὀντ-, participle of εἰμί sum):—that which is one's own, one's substance, property, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus [same places], 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Trachiniae” 911 (assuming variant), 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Hercules Furens” 337, “Hel.” 1253 (_plural_, “fragment” 354 (assuming variant)), 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Ecclesiazusae” 729, 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 18.17, 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Respublica” 551b, “SIG” ] Refs 5th c.BC+][same place], etc.; opposed to τὰ σώματα (civil status), [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Andocides Orator 1.74; καλῶς.. ἐπεμελήθη τῶν οὐσιῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δημάρχου “BSA” 24.154 (Attica, 4th c.BC)] Refs 5th c.BC+]; εἰ ἐκεκτήμην οὐ. if I had been a man of substance, [[ 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 24.11; ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐ. δαπανᾶν 4th-3rd c.BC: Diphilus Comicus 32.7; πατρῴαν οὐ. κατεσθίειν 4th c.BC: Anaxippus Comicus 1.32, compare 5th c.BC: Critias Philosophus, Tragicus, Elegiacus 45 4th c.BC: Demosthenes Orator ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; φανερὰ οὐσία real property, immovables, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Andocides Orator 1.118 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to ἀφανής, [[ 5th c.BC: Lysias Orator 32.4 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; frequently of estates in Egypt, [[ “PTeb.” 6.23 (2nd c.BC, _plural_), “BGU” 650.3 (1st c.AD), “OGI” 665.30 (1st c.AD), etc. ] Refs 2nd c.BC+]
__II in Philos., like Ionic dialect φύσις (with which it is interchanged in various uses, e. g. [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Philolaus Philosophus 11, 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Respublica” 359a, 359b, 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “de Partibus Animalium” 646a25, 4th-3rd c.BC: Theophrastus Philosophus “Historia Plantarum” 6.1.1)] Refs 5th c.BC+], stable being, immutable reality, opposed to γένεσις, ὅτιπερ πρὸς γένεσιν οὐσία, τοῦτο πρὸς πίστιν ἀλήθεια [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Timaeus” 29c, compare “Sph.” 232c; ὧν κίνησις γένεσιν παραλαβοῦσα ἀέναον οὐ. ἐπόρισεν [prev. author] “Lg.” 966e; γένεσις μὲν τὸ σπέρμα, οὐ. δὲ τὸ τέλος 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “de Partibus Animalium” 641b32, compare 640a18, etc.] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁδὸς εἰς οὐσίαν [[ [prev. author] “Metaphorical” 1003b7 ] Refs]: hence, being in the abstract, opposed to non-being (τὸ μὴ εἶναι), [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Theaetetus” 185c. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]