"the Second Coming," 1875, a reference to Matthew xxiv.27, from Greek parousia, literally "presence," from para- (see para- (1)) + ousia "essence," from on, genitive ontos, present participle of einai "to be" (from PIE root *es- "to be"). Parusia, from a Modern Latin form of the Greek word, is a term in rhetoric: "the use of the present tense instead of the past or future, for dramatic effect."