essential
absolutely necessary; indispensable: Discipline is essential in an army.
pertaining to or constituting the essence of a thing.
noting or containing an essence of a plant, drug, etc.
being such by its very nature or in the highest sense; natural; spontaneous: essential happiness.
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).
a basic, indispensable, or necessary element; chief point: Concentrate on essentials rather than details.
Origin of essential
1synonym study For essential
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
Like plenty of other modern direct-to-consumer companies, influencer marketing has been an essential part of Fabletics’ journey.
Fabletics’ Adam Goldenberg and Kevin Hart on what’s next for the activewear empire | Lucas Matney | September 17, 2020 | TechCrunchBefore understanding Canix, it’s essential to know the landscape of growing legal cannabis in the United States.
Canix aims to ease cannabis cultivators’ regulatory bookkeeping | Matt Burns | September 17, 2020 | TechCrunchThese changes have stopped the essential flow of nutrient-rich sediment to the river’s deltas and the wetlands they support.
Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them | Alison Pearce Stevens | September 17, 2020 | Science News For StudentsWe know that our body is colonized by microbes, particularly in the gut, which perform metabolic processes essential to our lives.
What the Meadow Teaches Us - Issue 90: Something Green | Andreas Weber | September 16, 2020 | NautilusThus, it is essential to build public confidence in the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, so more people will volunteer to get vaccinated.
6 questions that must be answered in the race for a vaccine | jakemeth | September 15, 2020 | Fortune
But Winning Marriage will be essential for the historian who, someday, tries to tell the full story.
The Real Story Behind the Fight for Marriage Equality | E.J. Graff | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLaw is essential to freedom because it safeguards citizens against misconduct and abuse.
Dana Rubenstein of The New York Observer wrote that “essential to the experience was segregation.”
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal | Olivia Nuzzi | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTYoung Living traffics in essential oils designed to help relax and rejuvenate.
Honey Boo Boo, Snake Oil, and Ebola: The Weird World of Young Living Essential Oils | Kent Sepkowitz | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTClaiming to be useful against Ebola, autism, and cancer, Young Living essential Oils came under fire from the FDA.
Honey Boo Boo, Snake Oil, and Ebola: The Weird World of Young Living Essential Oils | Kent Sepkowitz | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWater itself is of course essential to the growth of every plant, but the benefits of Irrigation reach far beyond this.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyAs a rule, however, persistent glycosuria is diagnostic of diabetes mellitus, of which disease it is the essential symptom.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddSuch are most probably given by the essential oils, which vary in amount in different species of the plant.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.But the essential problem of to-day is to know how far we are to depart from its principles.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockIn its essential nature socialism is nothing but a proposal for certain kinds of economic reform.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen Leacock
British Dictionary definitions for essential
/ (ɪˈsɛnʃəl) /
vitally important; absolutely necessary
basic; fundamental: the essential feature
completely realized; absolute; perfect: essential beauty
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
derived from or relating to an extract of a plant, drug, etc: an essential oil
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
music denoting or relating to a note that belongs to the fundamental harmony of a chord or piece
pathol (of a disease) having no obvious external cause: essential hypertension
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
something fundamental or indispensable: a sharp eye is an essential for a printer
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
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