essential

[ uh-sen-shuhl ]
See synonyms for: essentialessentialsessentiallyessentialness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. absolutely necessary; indispensable: Discipline is essential in an army.

  2. pertaining to or constituting the essence of a thing.

  1. noting or containing an essence of a plant, drug, etc.

  2. being such by its very nature or in the highest sense; natural; spontaneous: essential happiness.

  3. Mathematics.

    • (of a singularity of a function of a complex variable) noting that the Laurent series at the point has an infinite number of terms with negative powers.

    • (of a discontinuity) noting that the function is discontinuous and has no limit at the point.: Compare removable (def. 2).

noun
  1. a basic, indispensable, or necessary element; chief point: Concentrate on essentials rather than details.

Origin of essential

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English essencial, from Late Latin essentiālis. See essence, -al1

synonym study For essential

1. See necessary. 2. Essential, inherent, intrinsic refer to that which is in the natural composition of a thing. Essential suggests that which is in the very essence or constitution of a thing: Oxygen and hydrogen are essential in water. Inherent means inborn or fixed from the beginning as a permanent quality or constituent of a thing: properties inherent in iron. Intrinsic implies belonging to the nature of a thing itself, and comprised within it, without regard to external considerations or accidentally added properties: the intrinsic value of diamonds.

Other words for essential

Opposites for essential

Other words from essential

  • es·sen·tial·ly, adverb
  • es·sen·tial·ness, noun
  • pre·es·sen·tial, noun, adjective
  • pre·es·sen·tial·ly, adverb
  • qua·si-es·sen·tial, adjective
  • qua·si-es·sen·tial·ly, adverb
  • sub·es·sen·tial, adjective
  • sub·es·sen·tial·ly, adverb
  • sub·es·sen·tial·ness, noun

Words Nearby essential

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

How to use essential in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for essential

essential

/ (ɪˈsɛnʃəl) /


adjective
  1. vitally important; absolutely necessary

  2. basic; fundamental: the essential feature

  1. completely realized; absolute; perfect: essential beauty

  2. biochem (of an amino acid or a fatty acid) necessary for the normal growth of an organism but not synthesized by the organism and therefore required in the diet

  3. derived from or relating to an extract of a plant, drug, etc: an essential oil

  4. logic (of a property) guaranteed by the identity of the subject; necessary. Thus, if having the atomic number 79 is an essential property of gold, nothing can be gold unless it has that atomic number

  5. music denoting or relating to a note that belongs to the fundamental harmony of a chord or piece

  6. pathol (of a disease) having no obvious external cause: essential hypertension

  7. geology (of a mineral constituent of a rock) necessary for defining the classification of a rock. Its absence alters the rock's name and classification

noun
  1. something fundamental or indispensable: a sharp eye is an essential for a printer

  2. music an essential note

Derived forms of essential

  • essentiality (ɪˌsɛnʃɪˈælɪtɪ) or essentialness, 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