Entity
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2008-07-15T11:11:50Z
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{{dablink|This article is about the concept of an entity. For other uses, see [[Entity (disambiguation)]].}}
An '''entity''' is something that has a distinct, separate [[existence]], though it need not be a material existence. In particular, [[abstraction]]s and [[legal fiction]]s are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is [[Life|animate]]. Entities are used in system developmental models that display communications and internal processing of, say, documents compared to order processing.
An entity could be viewed as a [[set]] containing [[subset]]s. In [[philosophy]], such sets are said to be [[abstract object]]s.
Sometimes, the word ''entity'' is used in a general sense of a [[being]], whether or not the referent has material existence; e.g., is often referred to as an entity with no [[corporeal]] form, such as a language. It is also often used to refer to [[ghosts]] and other [[spirits]]. Taken further, ''entity'' sometimes refers to existence or being itself. For example, the former U.S. diplomat [[George F. Kennan]] once said that "the policy of the government of the United States is to seek . . . to preserve Chinese territorial and administrative ''entity''."
The word ''entitative'' is the adjective form of the noun entity. Something that is entitative is "considered as pure entity; abstracted from all circumstances", that is, regarded as entity alone, apart from attendant circumstances.
In [[law]], an '''entity''' is something capable of bearing legal [[right]]s and [[obligation]]s. It generally means "[[Juristic person|legal entity]]" (such as a business entity or a corporate entity) or "[[artificial person]]" but also includes "[[natural person]]".
==Specialized uses==
* A [[database management system|DBMS]] '''entity''' is ''either'' a thing in the modelled world ''or'' a drawing element in an [[Entity-relationship diagram|ERD]].
* A [[Suggested Upper Merged Ontology|SUMO]], '''Entity''' is the root node and stands for the universal class of individuals.
* In [[VHDL]], '''entity''' is the keyword for defining a new object.
* An [[SGML entity|SGML]] '''entity''' is an abbreviation for some expanded piece of SGML text.
* An [[open systems architecture]] '''entity''' is an active routine within a layer.
* [[Zionist entity|Zionist]] '''entity''' is a pejorative term for [[Israel]]
* In [[computer game]]s and [[game engine]]s, '''entity''' is a [[dynamic]] object such as a [[non-player character]] or [[item]].
* In [[HTML]], '''entity''' is a code snipet (ie: "®" for "Registered Trademark") which is interpreted by web browsers to display special characters.
==See also==
* [[Ontology]], the study of being, existence and '''entities'''
* [[Entity realism]], a form of [[scientific realism]].
*[[Boltzmann brain]], a hypothesized self-aware entity.
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[[Category:Philosophical terminology]]
[[Category:Data modeling diagrams]]
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