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intr.v. ex·ist·ed, ex·ist·ing, ex·ists 1. To have actual being; be real. 2. To have life; live: one of the worst actors that ever existed. 3. To live at a minimal level; subsist: barely enough income on which to exist. 4. To continue to be; persist: old customs that still exist in rural areas. 5. To be present under certain circumstances or in a specified place; occur: "Wealth and poverty exist in every demographic category" (Thomas G. Exter). [Latin existere, exsistere, to come forth, be manifest : ex-, ex- + sistere, to stand; see stā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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