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  • omnipresent

present everywhere at the same time: the omnipresent God.

Origin of omnipresent

Synonym study for omnipresent, other words from omnipresent.

  • om·ni·pres·ence, noun

Words Nearby omnipresent

  • omnipotence
  • omniscience
  • omnishambles

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use omnipresent in a sentence

There was no use having an opinion on something so omnipresent .

Indeed, so firm is their grip on humanity that Pollan’s quest in the caffeine chapter is simply to avoid the omnipresent drug.

An extreme degree of seamlessness will be required to dynamically connect our physical surrounding with the omnipresent digital systems.

The romance in Shadow and Bone is rampant and omnipresent , but it’s just as poorly handled as all the other plot elements.

Perhaps the best Republicans to do so happen to bear names that have been omnipresent in the past few years, for widely diverging reasons.

In other words, the omnipresent postcolonial Arab State has just about dropped dead, the times are fluid and the vacuums are many.

On some preconscious level, we never outgrow this expectation or fear about our omnipresent mothers.

They see the FDA decision as one more imposition on their lives and choices by the omnipresent nanny state.

Do Israeli kids need textbooks when Palestinian violence and Arab rockets and rejectionism are so omnipresent in their lives?

This convivial mask he wears, along with his omnipresent flask, is obscuring a deep hurt stemming from his father.

It must exist in inexhaustible quantities, which is the only possible way for any substance to be omnipresent .

To any one who believes God to be omnipresent , the idea of His having ambassadors, or vicars upon earth, is blasphemous.

This mysterious, shrouded Sanchia figured in it as the goddess of a shrine— omnipresent , a felt influence, yet never a woman.

The omnipotent, omnipresent saviour who can and will deliver us from them is already in the world.

Their God is supposed to be omnipresent , and is worshipped in spirit, idolatry not being known amongst them.

British Dictionary definitions for omnipresent

/ ( ˌɒmnɪˈprɛz ə nt ) /

(esp of a deity) present in all places at the same time

Derived forms of omnipresent

  • omnipresence , noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cambridge Dictionary

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Meaning of omnipresent in English

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  • at every turn idiom
  • from top to bottom idiom
  • from top to toe idiom
  • hunt/search high and low idiom
  • non-universal
  • the length and breadth of somewhere idiom
  • ubiquitously

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Omnipresence

The psalmist asks God,

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.                 (Psalms 139: 7–8, NRSV)

Philosophers and theologians have taken such texts to affirm that God is present everywhere. This passage suggests, first, that God is really present at or located at various particular places. Second, it suggests that there is no place where God is not present, that is, that God is present everywhere . This is the claim that God is omnipresent . Divine omnipresence is thus one of the traditional divine attributes, although it has attracted less philosophical attention than such attributes as omnipotence , omniscience , or being eternal .

Philosophers who have attempted to give an account of omnipresence have identified several interesting philosophical questions that an adequate account of omnipresence must address: How can a being who is supposed to be immaterial be present at or located in space? If God is located in a particular place, can anything else be located there, too? If God is present everywhere, does it follow that he has parts in each of the particular places in which he is located? Various philosophers have proposed accounts of omnipresence in terms that are supposed to apply to an immaterial being. This essay will examine some of these proposals.

1. Some Issues involving Omnipresence and Historical Background

2. power, knowledge, and essence, 3. two recent traditional treatments, 4. the world as god’s body, 5. some recent alternative proposals, 6. future directions, other internet resources, related entries.

According to classical theism, God is omnipresent, that is, present everywhere. But classical theism also holds that God is immaterial. How can something that is not, or does not have, a body be located in space? Early discussions of divine presence typically began by distinguishing God’s presence in space from that of material bodies. Augustine (354–430) writes,

Although in speaking of him we say that God is everywhere present, we must resist carnal ideas and withdraw our mind from our bodily senses, and not imagine that God is distributed through all things by a sort of extension of size, as earth or water or air or light are distributed ( Letter 187 , Ch. 2).

Elsewhere Augustine continues this theme and introduces a new element, namely, the suggestion that divine presence might be understood by analogy with the presence of the soul:

[Some people] are not able to imagine any substance except what is corporeal, whether those substances be grosser, like water and earth, or finer, like air and light, but still corporeal. None of these can be wholly everywhere, since they are necessarily composed of numberless parts, some here and some there; however large or however small the substance may be, it occupies an amount of space, and it fills that space without being entire in any part of it. Consequently, it is a characteristic of corporeal substances alone to be condensed and rarified, contracted and expanded, divided into small bits and enlarged into a great mass. The nature of the soul is very different from that of the body, and much more different is the nature of God who is the Creator of both body and soul ( Letter 137 ).

Augustine adds two further points: First, God “knows how to be wholly everywhere without being confined to any place” ( Letter 137 ). In contrast to material objects, which, having parts in various parts of the space they occupy, are not wholly present at any of those regions, God is wholly present wherever he is. Second, God is not contained in or confined by any of the places at which he exists. Augustine is thus explicit that God is not present in the way corporeal substances are present, but his positive proposal for divine presence is less well developed. He notes that God’s light, strength, and wisdom reach everywhere ( Letter 187 , Ch. 7), and he holds that “God so permeates all things as to be not a quality of the world, but the very creative substance of the world ruling the world without labor, sustaining it without effort.” Rather than going on to explain these ideas, however, this passage simply ends with what became a familiar formula:

Nevertheless, he [God] is not distributed through space by size so that half of him should be in half the world and half in the other half of it. He is wholly present in all of it in such wise as to be wholly in heaven alone and wholly in the earth alone and wholly in heaven and earth together; not confined in any place, but wholly in himself everywhere.

Anselm (1033–1109) also distinguishes God’s presence from the way in which material objects are contained in space, and he, too, appeals to the concept of being wholly present. In his Monologion Anselm discusses omnipresence in a series of chapters with paradoxical titles. In chapter 20 he states that “the Supreme Being exists in every place and at all times.” But in the following chapter, he argues that God “exists in no place and at no time.” Finally, he attempts to reconcile these “two conclusions—so contradictory according to their utterance, so necessary according to their proof”, by distinguishing two senses of “being wholly in a place.” In one sense those things are wholly in a place “whose magnitude place contains by circumscribing it, and circumscribes by containing it.” In this sense, an ordinary material object is contained in a place. God, however, is not thus contained in space, for it is “a mark of shameless impudence to say that place circumscribes the magnitude of Supreme Truth.” Instead, God is in every place in the sense that he is present at every place. According to Anselm, “the Supreme Being must be present as a whole in every different place at once.” Like Augustine, then, Anselm denies that God is contained in space. Also, like Augustine, he seems to leave unexplained this second relation of being “present as a whole” in every place.

In his (1988) Edward Wierenga attempts to supply the missing details. He notes that Anselm holds that souls could be wholly present in more than one place, provided that they sensed in more than one place, and that Anselm (in his Proslogion ) adds that perception for God is a matter of having direct or immediate knowledge. Combining these two ideas, Anselm could say that God is present everywhere in virtue of having immediate knowledge of what is happening everywhere. Brian Leftow (1989) objects to the details of this interpretation and proposes instead that, for Anselm, God is everywhere in virtue of his power. We will explore the combination of knowledge and power below. It should be noted, however, as Christopher Conn (2011) emphasizes, that Anselm himself discusses time in conjunction with space; perhaps an adequate interpretation of Anselm would exploit this idea and develop an account, as Conn suggests, according to which God “contains” all of space-time.

The two ideas of knowledge and power figure prominently in the account of omnipresence given by Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), which we will take up in the next section. Section 3 will consider two 20th century proposals very much in the spirit of Aquinas’s. Some treatments of the problem of omnipresence seem to have the consequence that God is related to the world as though it is his body. That will be the subject of Section 4. In Section 5 we will consider several recent proposals that depart from the traditional formula.

According to Thomas Aquinas, God’s presence is to be understood in terms of God’s power, knowledge and essence. (In this view he followed a formula put forth by Peter Lombard (late 11th C.–1160) in his Sentences, I, xxxvii, 1.) He writes, “God is in all things by his power, inasmuch as all things are subject to his power; he is by his presence in all things, inasmuch as all things are bare and open to his eyes; he is in all things by his essence, inasmuch as he is present to all as the cause of their being” ( Summa Theologica I, 8, 3). Aquinas attempts to motivate this claim with some illustrations:

But how he [God] is in other things created by him may be considered from human affairs. A king, for example, is said to be in the whole kingdom by his power, although he is not everywhere present. Again, a thing is said to be by its presence in other things which are subject to its inspection; as things in a house are said to be present to anyone, who nevertheless may not be in substance in every part of the house. Lastly, a thing is said to be substantially or essentially in that place in which its substance is.

Perhaps there is a sense in which a king is present wherever his power extends. In any event, Aquinas seems to think so. He distinguishes two kinds of being in place: by “contact of dimensive quantity, as bodies are, [and] contact of power” ( S.T. I, 8, 2, ad 1). In Summa contra Gentiles he writes that “an incorporeal thing is related to its presence in something by its power, in the same way that a corporeal thing is related to its presence in something by dimensive quantity,” and he adds that “if there were any body possessed of infinite dimensive quantity, it would have to be everywhere. So if there were an incorporeal being possessed of infinite power, it must be everywhere” ( SCG III, 68, 3). So the first aspect of God’s presence in things is his having power over them. The second aspect is having every thing present to him, having everything “bare and open to his eyes” or being known to him. The third feature, that God is present in things by his essence, is glossed as his being the cause of their being, (although Ross Inman (2021) argues that a fuller account within the Christian tradition treats the role of essence here as deriving explanatorily from a prior attribute of ubiquity).

This way of understanding God’s presence by reference to his power and his knowledge treats the predicate ‘is present’ as applied to God as analogical with its application to ordinary physical things. (For a fuller explanation of analogical predication, see Medieval Theories of Analogy .) As applied to God, ‘is present’ is neither univocal (used with the same meaning as in ordinary contexts) nor equivocal (used with an unrelated meaning). Rather, its meaning can be explained by reference to its ordinary sense: God is present at a place just in case there is a physical object that is at that place and God has power over that object, knows what is going on in that object, and God is the cause of that object’s existence. Nicholas Everitt (2010, p. 86) objects to this analogical approach, stating that “if this is how omnipresence is interpreted, one might well think that it would be clearer to say straightforwardly that God is not omnipresent at all,” and he cites Joshua Hoffman and Gary Rosenkrantz (2002, p. 41)) as agreeing with him. But Hoffman and Rosenkrantz in the cited passage merely say that “there is no literal sense in which [God] could be omnipresent,” which leaves it open that there is an analogical sense in which God is omnipresent. Hud Hudson (2009) also denies that God’s presence is analogical, but that is because he thinks that there is a literal way in which God is present everywhere. We will consider Hudson’s proposal in Section 5.

This account of omnipresence has the consequence that, strictly speaking, God is only present where some physical thing is located. Perhaps, however, this is exactly what the medievals had intended. Anselm says, for example, that “the supreme Nature is more appropriately said to be everywhere, in this sense, that it is in all existing things, than in this sense, namely that it is merely in all places” ( Monologion , 23).

More recent philosophers have agreed that God’s presence is to be understood analogically. Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000), for example, claims that “the relation of God to the world must necessarily be conceived, if at all, by analogy with relations given in human experience” (1941). Rather than taking the relations to be knowledge of and power over things, however, Hartshorne assumes that God’s relation to the world is analogous to that of a human mind’s relation to its body.

Hartshorne develops this idea by making distinctions between kinds of knowledge and kinds of power. Some things that human beings know are known immediately, by “vivid and direct intuition”, while other things are known only indirectly or through inference. Hartshorne holds that the former kind of knowledge is infallible, and it is the kind of knowledge human beings have of their own thoughts and feelings. Since this kind of knowledge is the highest form of knowledge, it is the kind God has, and he has it with respect to the entire cosmos.

Similarly, some things human beings have power over they control directly; other things can be controlled only indirectly. Human beings have direct control only over their own volitions and movements of their own bodies. Again, since this is the highest kind of power, it is the kind of power God has—and he has it over every part of the universe.

Thus far Hartshorne may be seen as developing the medieval view of divine presence. God is present everywhere by having immediate knowledge and direct power throughout the universe (with the addition that his presence extends to unoccupied regions of space). But Hartshorne endorses a surprising addition. He adds that whatever part of the world a mind knows immediately and controls directly is, by definition, its body. The world, therefore, is God’s body.

Richard Swinburne (1977) also begins his discussion of omnipresence by asking what it is for a person to have a body. Although he insists that God is an immaterial spirit, he supposes this claim to be compatible with a certain “limited embodiment.” Subsequently (2016) he withdraws this suggestion, saying that since “God is not supposed to be tied down to acting or learning through … [the universe] or any chunk of matter … it seems less misleading to say that he is not embodied.” Swinburne develops his account by appeal to the notions of a “basic action” (an action one performs, for example, moving ones limbs in the typical case, without having to perform another action in order to do it) and of “direct knowledge” (knowledge that is neither inferential nor dependent on causal interaction). He then presents the claim that God is omnipresent as the claim that God “can cause effects at every place directly (as an instrumentally basic action) and knows what is happening at every place without the information coming to him through some causal chain—for example, without needing light rays from a distant place to stimulate his eyes” (2016, p. 113). Swinburne’s account is thus, as he notes, in the spirit of that of Aquinas.

As we have seen, Hartshorne explicitly endorses as a consequence of the doctrine of divine omnipresence that the world is God’s body, and Swinburne is initially willing to accept a “limited embodiment.” But some philosophers have been loath to accept divine embodiment as a consequence of omnipresence. Charles Taliaferro, for example, while endorsing this overall account of omnipresence, notes that the basic actions human beings perform “can involve highly complex physical factors…[including] many neural events and muscle movements, whereas with God there is no such physical complexity” (Taliaferro, 1994). Taliaferro then adds that this immediacy in the case of God’s action is precisely a reason to say that “the world does not function as God’s body the way material bodies function as our own.” Edward Wierenga adds a second objection. He holds that as Hartshorne and Swinburne develop accounts of God’s power and knowledge, God would have the same knowledge of and control over what happens in empty regions of space as he does with respect to those regions occupied by material objects (Wierenga, 2010). In other words, Hartshorne’s and Swinburne’s accounts of omnipresence, unlike that of Aquinas, do not interpret God’s presence as presence in things . But it would be implausible to count a thing as part of God’s body on the basis of his knowledge of and power over the region of space that thing occupies, when God’s knowledge and power would extend in the same way to that region if it were unoccupied. So it seems as though one could accept a version of the traditional account of divine omnipresence without having to conclude that the world is God’s body.

Although conceiving of omnipresence in terms of power, knowledge, and essence is the traditional approach, with continued adherents, in recent years several philosophers have proposed quite different accounts of omnipresence.

Robert Oakes (2006) suggests that space is “constituted by” God’s omnipresence. He holds that things located in space and the world itself are therefore distinct from God. Oakes then draws on these claims to argue that divine omnipresence is incompatible with pantheism .

Some recent work appeals to esoteric concepts from metaphysics. Luco Johan van den Brom (1984; see also 1993) suggests that “God has a spatial dimension of his own which he does not share with the created cosmos.” Brom’s idea is that just as a two-dimensional surface “transcends” a line on that surface but is present at every point on the line, and similarly for a three-dimensional space and a two-dimensional plane in that space, “God, by existing in a higher dimensional system, is also present in the places of all the objects in the three-dimensional space of created cosmos without being contained by that three-dimensional space” (1984, p. 654). Brom even conjectures that God possesses at least two extra dimensions, making it impossible for our space to bisect his.

Other recent work draws on contemporary discussions on the metaphysics of material objects and their relation to spacetime. Hud Hudson (2009) describes several possible “occupation” relations. One of these relations is “entension”, where an object entends a region r just in case it is wholly and entirely located at r and also wholly located at every proper subregion of r . An object is entirely located at a region r just in case it is located at r and there is no region disjoint from r at which it is located. And an object is wholly located at r just in case it is located at r and no proper part of it is not located at r . The typical way in which an object is located at a region of space is by having various of its parts at different subregions of that region; that is, typically material objects are “spread out” or distributed through a region they occupy (they “pertend”, to use a technical term). In contrast, if an object entends a region, then it is located as a whole throughout that region. Hudson then proposes a “literal occupation account of omnipresence as ubiquitous entension” (2009, p. 209). Omnipresence is location at “the maximally inclusive region” plus being wholly located at every subregion there is. Alexander R. Pruss (2013) also endorses a version of this account, with slightly different details to allow explicitly for divine timelessness. In Hudson’s view, any object that occupies a region in space is a material object. He is thus willing to accept as a consequence of his account of omnipresence as ubiquitous entension that God is a material object. Ross Inman (2017), while sympathetic to the appeal to ubiquitous entension, is unwilling to accept the conclusion that God is a material object. Accordingly he shows that careful attention to medieval discussions of the distinction between material and immaterial objects yields at least three ways of marking that distinction according to which God is not material.

Eleonore Stump (2010, see also 2008, 2011, 2013) defends adding additional conditions to the traditional understanding of omnipresence in terms of knowledge and power. She writes, “I … think, however, that the attempt to capture personal presence in terms of direct and unmediated cognitive and casual contact misses something even in the minimal sense of personal presence” (2010, p. 111). She continues, “what has to be added to the condition of direct and unmediated casual and cognitive contact … are two things––namely, second-person experience and shared attention” (2010, p. 112). Second-person experience involves being aware of and attending to someone else as a person when that other person is conscious and functioning as a person. Shared attention requires that two persons be aware of each other and aware of their awareness, whether of each other or a third object. Stump’s goal is to provide an understanding of the kind of union to be desired in love. It may be, then, that her real topic is the nature of God’s offer of love to people. But she explicitly applies her remarks about personal presence to omnipresence when she writes, “in order for God to be omnipresent, that is, in order for God to be always and everywhere present , it also needs to be the case that God is always and everywhere in a position to share attention with any creature able and willing to share attention with God” (2010, p. 117). Perhaps, then, Stump can be seen not only as attempting to analyze omnipresence but to identify what is required for it to be of religious or theological importance.

Georg Gasser (2019) also defends adding an additional condition involving agency to the traditional appeal to knowledge and power. He considers a variety of proposed accounts of omnipresence, giving special attention (and initial sympathy) to Hudson’s development of ubiquitous entension. But he concludes that this proposal has a hard time explaining “the biblical tradition and personal religious experiences [according to which] God acts differently at different places” (2019, 59). Perhaps he takes Stump’s second-person attention and shared experience, which he references, to provide the requisite agency, or perhaps he intends such actions as, for example, God’s speaking to Moses in the burning bush and also preventing the consumption of the bush by fire. In any event, Gasser assumes that omnipresence includes, not only God’s presence through his knowledge and power everywhere, but also “acting from time to time … ‘specially’ in miraculous ways” (2019, p. 60).

In a recent paper, Sam Cowling and Wesley D. Cray note that “[t]he philosophical literature on omnipresence is vast, though largely situated in the context of Western, monotheistic philosophy of religion” (2017, p. 223). Their own proposal for expanding the field is to develop an account of omnipresence according to which even numbers and pure sets are omnipresent. That will likely strike many as implausible, but their claim about the limited scope of traditional work on the topic is accurate. In fact they could have mentioned, more precisely, that the philosophers considered in this entry tend to restrict their attention primarily to Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas, with perhaps an aside to Peter Lombard. That suggests that one avenue for future research is to consider the work of ancient philosophers as well as early modern and later philosophers. The mention of monotheistic philosophy of religion calls attention to another often overlooked area, namely, the work of Jewish and Islamic philosophers of religion. Finally, recent interest in global philosophy suggests yet other areas into which work on omnipresence could extend.

  • Anselm, Monologion and Proslogion , in Brian Davies and G. R. Evans (eds.), Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Aquinas, St. Thomas, Summa contra Gentiles , James F. Anderson (trans.), Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975.
  • –––, Summa Theologica , in Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas , Anton Pegis (ed.), New York: Random House, 1945.
  • Augustine, Letter 137 (to Volusian) and Letter 187 (to Dardanus) “On the Presence of God”, in W. Parsons (trans.) Saint Augustine Letters, Vols. III and IV , The Fathers of the Church , New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1953.
  • Brom, Luco J. van den, 1984, “God’s Omnipresent Agency,” Religious Studies 20(4): 637–655.
  • –––, 1993, Divine Presence in the World: A Critical Analysis of the Notion of Divine Omnipresence , Kampen: Kok.
  • Conn, Christopher, 2011, “Anselmian Spacetime: Omnipresence and the Created Order,” The Heythrop Journal , 52: 26–270.
  • Cowling, Sam, and Wesley D. Cray, 2017, “How to Be Omnipresent,” American Philosophical Quarterly , 54(3): 223–234.
  • Everitt, Nicholas, 2010, “The Divine Attributes,” Philosophy Compass , 5(1): 78–90.
  • Gasser, Georg, 2019, “God’s Omnipresence in the World: On Possible Meanings of ‘en’ in Panentheism,” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 85: 43–62.
  • Grabowski, Stanislaus, 1954, The All–Present God: A Study in St. Augustine , St. Louis: B. Herder.
  • Hartshorne, Charles, 1941, Man’s Vision of God and the Logic of Theism , New York: Harper & Brothers.
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  • Inman, Ross, 2017, “Omnipresence and the Location of the Immaterial,” Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion , 8: 168–206.
  • –––, 2021, “Retrieving Divine Immensity and Omnipresence,” in James Arcadi and James T. Turner (eds), T&T Clark Handbook of Analytical Theology , London: T&T Clark, 127–139.
  • Jedwab, Joseph, 2016, “God’s Omnipresence: A Defence of the Classical View,” European Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 8(2): 129–149.
  • Leftow, Brian, 1989, “Anselm on Omnipresence,” New Scholasticism , 63: 326–357.
  • Oakes, Robert, 2006, “Divine Omnipresence and Maximal Immanence: Supernaturalism versus Pantheism,” American Philosophical Quarterly , 43(2): 171–179.
  • Peter Lombard, The Sentences, Books 1–4 , Giulio Silano (trans.), Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2007–2010.
  • Pruss, Alexander R., 2013, “Omnipresence, Multilocation, the Real Presence and Time Travel,” Journal of Analytic Theology , 1(1): 60–72.
  • Stump, Eleonore, 2008, “Presence and Omnipresence,” in Paul Weithman (ed.), Liberal Faith: Essays in Honor of Philip Quinn , Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 59–82.
  • –––, 2010, Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • –––, 2011, “Eternity, Simplicity, and Presence,” in Gregory T. Doolan (ed.), The Science of Being and Being: Metaphysical Investigations , Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, pp. 243–263; reprinted in Christian Tapp and Edmund Runggaldier (eds.), God, Eternity, and Time , Surrey, UK and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011.
  • –––, 2013, “Omnipresence, Indwelling, and the Second-Personal,” European Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 5(4): 63–87.
  • Swinburne, Richard, 1977, The Coherence of Theism , Oxford: Oxford University Press; rev. ed. 1993.
  • –––, 2016, The Coherence of Theism , 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Taliaferro, Charles, 1994, Consciousness and the Mind of God , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Wainwright, William, 2010, “Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence,” in Charles Taliaferro and Chad V. Meister (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Christian Philosophical Theology , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 46–65
  • Wierenga, Edward, 1988, “Anselm on Omnipresence,” New Scholasticism , 52: 30–41.
  • –––, 2010, “Omnipresence,” in Charles Taliaferro, Paul Draper, and Philip L. Quinn (eds.), A Companion to the Philosophy of Religion , second edition, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 258–262.
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Anselm of Canterbury [Anselm of Bec] | Aquinas, Thomas | Augustine, Saint | eternity, in Christian thought | Hartshorne, Charles | omnipotence | omniscience | pantheism

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What Does It Mean That God Is Omnipresent?

Because God is omnipresent, you and I are never alone. Jesus Christ promises to be with us always and everywhere (Matthew 28:18-20). The Holy Spirit indwells everyone who is a true Christian (Romans 8:9).

What Does It Mean That God Is Omnipresent?

What does “God is omnipresent” mean? Literally, it means that God is present everywhere. That sounds simple enough — until you seek to apply this definition. Especially when you seek to apply it to concepts like the appearances of God, evil cannot enter God’s presence, heaven, and God’s throne, hell’s reality, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ.

So, seven important questions and answers are in order… and then three practical applications for you and me.

Omnipresent: 7 Important Questions and Answers

1. Is the word “omnipresent” in the Bible? No.

2. Who invented the word “omnipresent”? According to the Oxford Dictionary, it was coined 1600-1610, coming over rather easily from Medieval Latin.

3. What other “omni” words describe God? First, “omnipotent” means all-powerful. Second, “omniscient” means all-knowing.

4. Does the Bible teach that God is omnipresent? Yes, as taught in Psalm 113:4-6 , Psalm 139:7-10 , Proverbs 15:3 , Isaiah 57:15 , Jeremiah 23:23-24 , and Hebrews 4:13 .

5. Does the Bible put any limits on God’s omnipresence ? No. Just the opposite. God is everywhere and can appear in any form He chooses to anyone He chooses.

First, God appeared to some Old Testament believers, as taught in Genesis 3:8 , Genesis 18:1 , Genesis 26:23 , Exodus 3:2 , Exodus 33:11 , Exodus 33:21-23 , Numbers 11:16 , Joshua 5:13-14 , Judges 6:12 , 1 Kings 3:5 , 1 Kings 19:5-9 , Isaiah 6:1 , Ezekiel 1:1 , Acts 7:2 , and Acts 7:30 .

Second, God appeared to His people during the exodus from Egypt, as taught in Exodus 19:11 , Exodus 20:20 , Leviticus 9:23 , Numbers 9:15 , Numbers 14:10 , Numbers 14:14 , Numbers 16:19 , Numbers 16:42 , Numbers 20:6 , and Deuteronomy 31:15 .

Third, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, became human and lived here on earth for more than 30 years, as taught in Luke 3:23 , John 1:1-18 , Philippians 2:7 , 1 Timothy 3:16 , and Hebrews 1:1-3 .

Fourth, Jesus repeatedly appeared to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead, as taught in Matthew 28:16 , Luke 24:36 , John 20:19 , John 20:26 , John 21:1 , Acts 10:40 , and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 .

Fifth, Jesus will appear once more, as taught in Matthew 24:30 , 2 Thessalonians 1:7 , 2 Timothy 4:1 , 2 Peter 1:19 , and Revelation 19:11 .

6. Doesn’t the Bible say God cannot enter the presence of evil? No. God has appeared on this fallen planet an untold number of times as shown above. Then again, evil cannot enter God’s presence without His permission.

This is how Satan approached God in heaven in Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7 and then had to leave. And this is how all people will appear before the Lord someday, as taught in Matthew 25:31-32 , Matthew 25:41-46 , and Revelation 21:11-15 .

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7. Doesn’t the Bible say God is on His throne in heaven? Yes. This doesn’t mean, however, that He’s there only. This is true of every appearance of God in heaven and earth.

8. Does omnipresence apply to the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ? Yes. With God the Father , they form the Trinity — the Trinitarian Godhead — and are equally omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.

3 Practical Applications of God's Omnipresence

1. Because God is omnipresent, you and I are never alone. Jesus Christ promises to be with us always and everywhere ( Matthew 28:18-20 ). The Holy Spirit indwells everyone who is a true Christian ( Romans 8:9 ).

2. Because God is omnipresent, you and I can travel the earth courageously. It’s easy for us to want to cocoon, to remain close to home, to refuse to venture outside our comfort zones into this vast world of ours. Yet God promises He will never leave us or forsake us, as taught in Deuteronomy 31:6 , Joshua 1:5 , and Hebrews 13:5 .

I’ve claimed this wonderful promise and traveled through the Amazon jungles, Andes mountains, Africa’s sub-Saharan desert, and elsewhere around the globe. Was it safe? Absolutely not, but I was never alone. God was always with me.

3. Because God is omnipresent, you and I are called to reshape our view of the universe. Thanks to the diligent work of hundreds of astrophysicists, working in scores of locations around the world, we’re learning more about the universe every year. For instance, did you know that light across the entire universe is captured by each black hole in a nested series of rings ?

Essentially, the universe appears more complex, more paradoxical, and more designed every year. It shows God’s fingerprints everywhere — even black holes, which scientists believe contain light from near the beginning of creation.

Meaning of God's Omnipresence

When the Bible teaches that the Lord God created the heavens and earth, and is everywhere present, we can believe it!

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. ~ Proverbs 15:3

Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ~ Jeremiah 23:24

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol , you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. ~ Psalm 139:7-10

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. ~ Isaiah 57:15

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! ~ 1 Kings 8:27

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ~ Colossians 1:17

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The Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God

Other essays.

The three “omni” attributes of God characterize him as all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present. Each of these involves the other two, and each provides a perspective on the all-embracing lordship of the true God.

Omnipotence means that God is in total control of himself and his creation. Omniscience means that he is the ultimate criterion of truth and falsity, so that his ideas are always true. Omnipresence means that since God’s power and knowledge extend to all parts of his creation, he himself is present everywhere. Together they define God’s lordship, and they yield a rich understanding of creation, providence, and salvation.

Introduction

The prefix omni means “all,” so the three divine attributes in our title can be paraphrased by saying that God is “all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present.” Let us look at these individually.

Omnipotence

Scripture affirms God’s omnipotence by saying that God does whatever he is pleased to do (Psa 115:3; cf. Isa 55:11 and Jer 32:17). Nothing is too hard for him (Gen 18:14). His word is never void of power, so when he speaks, everything in creation obeys him (Isa 55:11). Of course, creatures do disobey him in one sense; that is the essence of sin. But God has control even over sinful actions (Psa 105:24-25, Gen 45:5-8, Exod 4:21, Psa 105:24-25, Rom 9:18, Acts 2:23, 4:28). He ordains sinful, disobedient actions for his good purposes. So his word always prevails, and we can trust that His prophecies always come to pass (Deut 18:21-22).

Often we infer from these passages that God “can do anything.” But that doesn’t quite reflect the full biblical teaching. There are things that God cannot do. He cannot lie (Titus 1:2, cf. Num 23:19), nor, similarly, can he perform any immoral action. Since God is perfectly holy and good, he cannot do anything evil. And, since he is perfect truth, he cannot do things that are logically contradictory, like making round squares. His truth is a perfect consistency of thought and action. Nor can God do things inappropriate to his nature as God, like buying shoes or celebrating his birthday.

So how should we define God’s omnipotence more precisely? I think the most helpful definition of God’s omnipotence is this: that he has complete and total control over everything. This includes the smallest details of the natural world, like the falling of a sparrow or the number of hairs that grow on your head (Matt 6:26-30, 10:29-30). Even the events we call random, that we ascribe to chance, are really God at work (Prov 16:33). That includes not only the small things, but also the big things (which, after all, are accumulations of small things). He determines what nations will dwell in which territory (Acts 17:26). He decides what king is to rule, and when, and where (Isa 44:28). He decides whether the purposes of a ruler will stand or fall (Psa 33:10-11). And he decided, once, that wicked people would take the life of his dear Son, so that we sinners might live (Acts 2:23-24).

God rules not only the important events of human history but also the lives of individual people. He knits us together in our mothers’ wombs (Psa 139:13-16). He decides whether we will travel or stay home (Jas 4:13-17). He controls even the decisions of wicked people, as we saw above. But he also exerts his power to save sinners, to bring forgiveness and new life (Eph 2:8-10). Our salvation is entirely the work of God’s power, not at all our own work. We believe in Christ because he has appointed us to eternal life (Acts 13:48) and because he has opened our hearts to believe (Acts 16:14-15; cf. John 6:44, 65, Phil 1:29).

So his power is universal: it controls everything in the universe (Lam 3:37-38, Rom 8:28, Eph 1:11, Rom 11:33-36).

Omniscience

Now let us look at God’s omniscience. God’s power is not a blind power. Everything God does has an intelligent purpose, a definite goal. And since, as we’ve seen, God’s power is universal, so also is his knowledge. In knowing his own intentions, God knows everything in himself, in his creation, and throughout history. Scripture often refers to the universality of God’s knowledge (Psa 147:5, John 21:17, Heb 4:12-13, 1Jn 3:20). It often mentions that God knows detailed happenings on earth, even in the future (1Sam 10:2, 1Kgs 13:1-4, 2Kgs 8:12, Psa 139:4, Acts 2:23, 4:27-28).

Some theologians 1 have referred to passages like Gen 18:20-21 as teaching God’s ignorance. But Scripture assumes God’s omniscience pervasively, and it is far more likely that such passages should be interpreted consistently with that assumption. In Gen 18:20-21, for example, God does not admit ignorance, but declares that he is gathering facts for an indictment, preparing the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for judgment.

Indeed, God’s omniscience is based on his authority, for he is the supreme judge of all things, and he is the ultimate standard of what is true and false. Not only does God know what is true, but he is the very nature of truth. Truth is what he is (as John 14:6). So it is inconceivable that he could be wrong about anything.

God’s knowledge is a precious blessing to God’s people. Psa 139 emphasizes how deeply God knows us , wherever we are. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it” (v. 6). God’s knowledge of us pursues us wherever we may go: to heaven, to the grave, to great distances, to dark places (vv. 7-12). He knew us when he was forming us in our mother’s womb (vv. 13-16), and he knew, even back then, every day of our lifetime on earth (v. 16). Wicked people should well be terrorized by this doctrine; but to the Psalmist God’s knowledge of us is wonderful and good (vv. 17-18), and he prays that God will draw on this knowledge to lead him to repentance and forgiveness of sin (vv. 23-24).

Omnipresence

Now, God’s omnipresence—his presence in every place and time. To say that God is “present” is to say that he is here with us, really here, not absent. Sometimes we connect a person’s presence with his body, as when a teacher takes attendance and says that Jimmy is “present” because his body is in his seat. But God does not have a body; he is immaterial. So how can we tell when God is present or absent?

Scripture’s answer is that God is present everywhere, because, as we have seen, his power and knowledge are everywhere. If every event, everywhere, takes place by God’s power, and if he has exhaustive knowledge of everything his power has brought to pass, then certainly he is not absent, but present in each event, though his presence is not quite the same as the presence of physical beings. So God’s omnipotence and omniscience imply his omnipresence.

His omnipresence is a presence both in place and in time. Psalm 139 indicates that God is present in every place. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, and so he is in every location. He is also the creator of time, 2 the one without beginning or end. So he has been present in the world since its creation, and there will never be a time from which he is absent. In Scripture, he freely enters history and interacts with creatures. Supremely, he entered human history in Jesus Christ, where he died and rose again to save us from our sins.

So God’s omnipresence is not just a theoretical conclusion. It is a precious truth of redemption. Although we have sinned and deserve God’s judgment, God comes to his faithful people and declares to them “I will be with you .” This means that God is here, wherever we are, but also that God is on our side. He is with us, not to destroy us, but to forgive and to save us from sin. So this “with you,” this redeeming divine presence, is found often in Scripture as his gracious promise. To Isaac, God said, “I will be with you and will bless you” (Gen 26:3) and that language often forms the basis of God’s redemptive covenant. The heart of the covenant, God’s redemptive promise, is that “I will be your God, and you will be my people,” a precious togetherness of God with his people (Exod 6:7, 2Cor 6:16; cf. Gen 17:7, Exod 6:7, 29:45, Lev 26:12, Jer 7:23, 11:4, 24:7, 30:22, Ezek 11:20, 14:11, 36:28, 37:27, Heb 11:16, Rev 21:3). It should not surprise us that a biblical name for Jesus is Immanuel , God with us (Isa 7:14, Matt 1:23). As the Old Testament tabernacle was a place for God to dwell with his people, so Jesus, the Son of God, “tabernacled among us” (John 1:14).

Of course, God also can be said to be present to the wicked, and that is a fearsome and awful thing (Rev 1:7). But whether for good or for ill, God is present throughout heaven and earth, to carry out his own purposes.

Unity of the Omni-Attributes

We have seen that the three omni-attributes of God are quite inseparable. Since God’s power is purposeful and universal, it implies his omniscience. And since God’s omnipotence and omniscience are universal, we must conclude that he is omnipresent. We could note further that since God is omnipresent, all his attributes are omnipresent as well—his power and knowledge, as well as his truth, love, grace, eternity, infinity, and so on.

So the omni-attributes are like the other attributes of God, inseparable from each other and from him. As theologians say, God is “simple.” His attributes are not separable parts of him. Rather they are ways of characterizing God as a whole, ways of describing his nature.

Therefore, the omni-attributes are ways of speaking of God’s Lordship . “Lord” is the word that Scripture uses over 7,000 times to name him. The theological term “sovereignty” is equivalent to lordship. I have argued elsewhere 3 that Scripture typically defines God’s lordship as his “control, authority, and presence.” As we have seen, this triad is equivalent to the three omni-attributes. God’s omnipotence is his control over all things. His omniscience is his authority to declare what is true. And his omnipresence is his real existence in every time and place. So when we talk about God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, we are talking about his lordship.

Further Reading

  • Bavinck, Herman, Reformed Dogmatics : 2. God and Creation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004).
  • Frame, John, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishers, 2002).
  • Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994).
  • Pearce, Kenneth, “ Divine Attributes ”
  • Theopedia, “ Attributes of God
  • Tozer, A. W., The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2009).
  • Van Til, Cornelius, An Introduction to Systematic Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishers, 2007).

This essay is part of the Concise Theology series. All views expressed in this essay are those of the author. This essay is freely available under Creative Commons License with Attribution-ShareAlike, allowing users to share it in other mediums/formats and adapt/translate the content as long as an attribution link, indication of changes, and the same Creative Commons License applies to that material. If you are interested in translating our content or are interested in joining our community of translators,  please reach out to us .

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Definition of everywhere adverb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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  • flattery will get you everywhere/nowhere

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adverb as in in all places

Strongest matches

  • far and wide
  • here and there
  • omnipresent

Weak matches

  • all over creation
  • all over the map
  • here till Sunday
  • high and low
  • in all quarters
  • in each place
  • in every direction
  • in every place
  • inside and out
  • near and far
  • pole to pole
  • the world over
  • ubiquitously
  • universally

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Related words.

Words related to everywhere are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word everywhere . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

noun as in unspecified area

  • in any place
  • in whatever place

adverb as in situated on sides, circumference, or in general area

  • any which way
  • encompassing
  • in the vicinity
  • in this area
  • neighboring

adverb as in in every direction

  • all over the place
  • at every turn
  • everywhither
  • haphazardly
  • in all directions
  • in all manner of ways
  • in every quarter
  • indiscriminately
  • irregularly

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Example Sentences

Everywhere I go, ‘Hey Cartman, you must like Family Guy, right?’

An attack on journalists anywhere is an attack on civil society everywhere.

As a result, while Newton was born on December 25, 1642 in England, his birthday was January 4, 1643 everywhere else.

Cocker became an international star in the late 1960s, showing up everywhere from Woodstock to The Ed Sullivan Show.

Scrooge is still with us, not just in print but embodied in the cold hearts and selfish calculations of misanthropes everywhere.

General Lachambre, as the hero of Cavite, followed to receive the applause which was everywhere showered upon him in Spain.

Words are often everywhere as the minute-hands of the soul, more important than even the hour-hands of action.

In Manila particularly, amidst the pealing of bells and strains of music, unfeigned enthusiasm and joy were everywhere evident.

In most club card-rooms smoking is not permitted, but at the Pandemonium it is the fashion to smoke everywhere.

Everywhere cattle were being sold for a trifle, as there was no grass upon which they could feed.

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On this page you'll find 36 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to everywhere, such as: far and wide, here and there, omnipresent, ubiquitous, all-around, and all over.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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Definition of 'everywhere'

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Everywhere in american english, examples of 'everywhere' in a sentence everywhere, cobuild collocations everywhere, trends of everywhere.

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Definition of everywhere

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of everywhere  (Entry 2 of 2)

  • far and wide
  • high and low

Examples of everywhere in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'everywhere.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

13th century, in the meaning defined above

1533, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing everywhere

  • here, there, and everywhere

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Cite this Entry

“Everywhere.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/everywhere. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

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  2. OMNIPRESENT Definition & Usage Examples

    1 First recorded in 1600-10; from Medieval Latin omnipraesent- (stem of omnipraesēns ), equivalent to Latin omni- omni- + praesent- present 1 synonym study For omnipresent Omnipresent, ubiquitous refer to the quality of being everywhere.

  3. OMNIPRESENT

    OMNIPRESENT definition: 1. present or having an effect everywhere at the same time: 2. present or having an effect…. Learn more.

  4. Omnipresence

    Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to describe something "existing or being everywhere at the same time, constantly encountered, widespread, common".". Ubiquitous is also used synonymously with ...

  5. Ubiquitous

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  7. PRESENT EVERYWHERE in Thesaurus: 100+ Synonyms & Antonyms for PRESENT

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  8. Omnipresence

    God is present everywhere by having immediate knowledge and direct power throughout the universe (with the addition that his presence extends to unoccupied regions of space). But Hartshorne endorses a surprising addition. He adds that whatever part of the world a mind knows immediately and controls directly is, by definition, its body.

  9. Omnipresent Definition & Meaning

    Omnipresent definition: Present everywhere simultaneously. Origin of Omnipresent Medieval Latin omnipresēns omnipresent-Latin omni-omni-Latin praesēns present participle of praeesse to be present present 1. From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  10. 329 Words and Phrases for Present Everywhere

    Present Everywhere synonyms - 329 Words and Phrases for Present Everywhere Parts of speech adjectives suggest new immanent adj. all-over adj. ever-present adj. omnipresent adj. pervasive adj. rife adj. ubiquitous adj. everywhere adj. can't get away from adj. wall-to-wall adj. worldwide adj. abounding with adj. absolute adj. abundant adj. accepted

  11. Omnipresent vs Present: When To Use Each One In Writing

    Omnipresent is an adjective that describes something or someone that is present everywhere at the same time. It comes from the Latin word omni, meaning all, and praesens, meaning present. This term is often used to describe a deity or a spiritual force that is believed to be present everywhere at all times.

  12. Present

    The word present has multiple meanings, most of which concern giving (a present is a gift) or time (the present is right now). ... being present everywhere at once. see more see less. antonyms: absent. not being in a specified place. away. ... Spanish-English dictionary, translator, and learning. Emmersion. Fast and accurate

  13. Omnipresent vs Ubiquitous: When To Use Each One In Writing

    It refers to the state of being present or found everywhere, without necessarily implying an infinite or transcendent nature. While omnipresence suggests a limitless and all-pervading presence, ubiquity pertains to a more pervasive and widespread existence within a specific domain or context.

  14. What Does It Mean That God Is Omnipresent?

    Literally, it means that God is present everywhere. That sounds simple enough — until you seek to apply this definition. Especially when you seek to apply it to concepts like the appearances of God, evil cannot enter God's presence, heaven, and God's throne, hell's reality, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ.

  15. The Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God

    Definition The three "omni" attributes of God characterize him as all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present. Each of these involves the other two, and each provides a perspective on the all-embracing lordship of the true God. Summary Omnipotence means that God is in total control of himself and his creation.

  16. immanent adjective

    present as a natural part of something; present everywhere God is immanent in the world. Word Origin mid 16th cent.: from late Latin immanent- 'remaining within', from in- 'in' + manere 'remain'.

  17. What does it mean that God is omnipresent?

    Answer The prefix omni- originates in Latin and means "all." So, to say that God is omnipresent is to say that God is present everywhere. In many religions, God is regarded as omnipresent, whereas in both Judaism and Christianity, this view is further subdivided into the transcendence and immanence of God.

  18. Present Definition & Meaning

    pre· sent pri-ˈzent presented; presenting; presents transitive verb 1 : to make a gift to 2 : to give or bestow formally 3 a : to bring (something, such as a play) before the public b (1) : to bring or introduce into the presence of someone especially of superior rank or status (2) : to introduce socially 4 a : to offer to view : show b

  19. everywhere adverb

    /ˈɛvriˌwɛr/ (also everyplace) in, to, or at every place; all places I've looked everywhere. He follows me everywhere. We'll have to eat here—everywhere else is full. Everywhere we went was full of tourists. Questions about grammar and vocabulary? Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English.

  20. 24 Synonyms & Antonyms for EVERYWHERE

    adverb (1) as in in all places Advertisement View definitions for everywhere everywhere adverb as in in all places Compare Synonyms

  21. EVERYWHERE definition and meaning

    If you say that someone or something is everywhere, you mean that they are present in a place in very large numbers . There were books everywhere. Clothes were everywhere, hanging out of drawers and strewn across the floor. More Synonyms of everywhere Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

  22. Everywhere Definition & Meaning

    noun : every place : all places The fair draws people from everywhere. Synonyms Adverb all over everyplace far and wide high and low throughout See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus Examples of everywhere in a Sentence Adverb Everywhere we went, people were friendly. His new book is anxiously awaited by fans everywhere.

  23. Present everywhere Crossword Clue

    The Crossword Solver found 30 answers to "Present everywhere", 9 letters crossword clue. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . Enter a Crossword Clue Sort by Length # of Letters or Pattern Dictionary