Quintessence, or quintessential, or fifth essence, may refer to:

Cosmology

  • Aether (classical element), in medieval cosmology and science, the fifth element that fills the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere
  • Quintessence (physics), a hypothetical form of dark energy, postulated to explain the accelerating expansion of the universe

Literature

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  • Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W. V. Quine, essays by Willard Van Orman Quine
  • Quintessence: The Quality of Having It, a 1983 book by Betty Cornfeld and Owen Edwards
  • Works by Lawrence M. Krauss:
  • The Fifth Essence, a 1989 book
  • Quintessence: The Search for Missing Mass in the Universe, a 2000 book
  • Quintessence, a 2013 science fiction book by David Walton

Media companies

  • Quintessence Films, film production company
  • Quintessence Films Limited, British film production company
  • Quintessence International Publishing Group, a publishing company founded in Berlin, Germany

Music

  • Quintessence Records, a budget label
  • Quintessence Records (Canadian label)
  • Quintessence (band), 1970s British progressive rock band specializing in Indian themes and sounds

Albums

  • The Quintessence, by Quincy Jones and his orchestra, 1962
  • Quintessence (Quintessence album), 1970
  • Quintessence (Bill Evans album), 1976
  • Quintessence (Borknagar album), 2000
  • Quintessential, by Steam Powered Giraffe, 2016
  • Quintessence (Spontaneous Music Ensemble album)
  • Quintessence (Taeyang album), 2026

Songs

  • "Quintessence", by Darkthrone, from album Panzerfaust
  • "Quintessence", by Rotting Christ, from album Genesis
  • "Quintessence", by Mastodon, from album Crack the Skye
  • "In Quintessence", by Squeeze, from album East Side Story

Other uses

  • Quintessence: The Blighted Venom, a game by Freebird Games
  • Quintessence (horse), a thoroughbred racer (1900–1917)
  • The Quintessence, a DC Comics group of mutually consulting cosmic beings: see resp. Ganthet section
  • Quintessence (restaurant), a Michelin 3-star Japanese French fusion restaurant in Shinagawa, Japan

See also

  • Quintessenz, an Austrian on-line civil liberties advocacy organization
  • Quintessons, fictional characters from the Transformers franchise
  • Fifth Element (disambiguation)