A mathematical or philosophical term referring to something that has extension or spatial dimension; the extended thing itself.
Direct from Latin extensum, the neuter past participle of extendere (to extend). In medieval philosophy and Cartesian thought, it became a technical term to describe physical objects with spatial properties, contrasting with 'thinking substance.'
Descartes used 'extensum' (extended substance) to describe the physical world—everything you can measure and touch—which helped launch modern philosophy's biggest debate about mind versus matter!
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