to have being in a specified place or under certain conditions; be found; occur:
Hunger exists in many parts of the world.
5.
to achieve the basic needs of existence, as food and shelter:
He's not living, he's merely existing.
Origin
1595-1605; < Latinex(s)istere to exist, appear, emerge, equivalent to ex-ex-1 + sistere to stand
Related forms
exister, noun
nonexisting, adjective
unexisting, adjective
Synonyms
3. survive, persist, last, endure, stay, remain.
Examples from the web for exist
The first signs that life can exist in the deepest seas were nets full of mangled goo.
Nuclear bombs cleverly concealed in suitcases don't exist in real life.
Today it's perhaps too cold for life to exist there.
As with other life forms, they exist to reproduce, and does so about every hour.
However, the animal called the immortal jellyfish does exist, and it possesses an unusual ability to prolong its life.
It's more likely they've found a new way life can exist and that evidence for these conditions exists on other worlds.
Perfect happiness is something which doesn't exist in this life.
While elitism is steadily disappearing from the landscape of privileged life, it does continue to exist in pockets.
Such equality, we are told, is an unpractical ideal that cannot actually exist.
At the Equator a region exists that is wet all year.
British Dictionary definitions for exist
exist
/ɪɡˈzɪst/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to have being or reality; to be
2.
to eke out a living; stay alive; survive: I can barely exist on this wage
3.
to be living; live
4.
to be present under specified conditions or in a specified place: sharks exist in the Pacific
5.
(philosophy)
to be actual rather than merely possible
to be a member of the domain of some theory, an element of some possible world, etc
to have contingent being while free, responsible, and aware of one's situation
Derived Forms
existing, adjective
Word Origin
C17: from Latin exsistere to step forth, from ex-1 + sistere to stand
Word Origin and History for exist
v.
c.1600, from French exister (17c.), from Latin existere/exsistere "to step out, stand forth, emerge, appear; exist, be" (see existence). "The late appearance of the word is remarkable" [OED]. Related: Existed; existing.