The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word ESSENCE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
E
S
S
E
N
C
E
More clues leading to the result ESSENCE
- Vital part of German city church
- Intrinsic feature of enclosure being put about
- Main feature of German city church
- Character of German city church
- Soul of German city church
- Old ascetic conceals cold heart
- Half of necessary things forgotten by Church, concentrate
- German city on the outskirts of Cologne demonstrating spirit
- Sense corruption by church centre
- European city church centre
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Intrinsic feature" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case intrinsic feature = essence.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ESSENCE mean?
ESSENCE noun- The inherent nature of a thing or idea.
- The true nature of anything, not accidental or illusory.
- Constituent substance.
- A being; especially, a purely spiritual being.
- A significant feature of something.
- The concentrated form of a plant or drug obtained through a distillation process.
- An extract or concentrate obtained from a plant or other matter used for flavouring.
- Fragrance, a perfume.