quintessence [LME] Classical and medieval philosophers believed that there were four elements that made up everything that existed in the world (see humour). In addition, they thought that there was a fifth substance hidden in all things, of which the heavenly bodies were composed. This they called the quintessence, from medieval Latin quinta essentia ‘fifth *essence’. Later the word came to mean ‘the most typical or perfect example or form of something’, as in Sir Walter Scott’s remark in a letter written in 1823, ‘You have escaped the quintessence of bores.’