essential

American  

[uh-sen-shuhl] / əˈsɛn ʃəl /

adjective

1. absolutely necessary; indispensable.

   Discipline is essential in an army.

   Synonyms:

   vital, intrinsic, inherent, basic, fundamental

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

   Antonyms:

   accidental, extrinsic, extraneous, incidental

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

4. being such by its very nature or in the highest sense; natural; spontaneous.

   essential happiness.

5. Mathematics.

   1. (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.

   2. (of a discontinuity) noting that the function is discontinuous and has no limit at the point.

---

noun

1. a basic, indispensable, or necessary element; chief point.

   Concentrate on essentials rather than details.

essential British  

/ ɪˈsɛnʃəl, ɪˌsɛnʃɪˈælɪtɪ /

adjective

1. vitally important; absolutely necessary

2. basic; fundamental

   the essential feature

3. completely realized; absolute; perfect

   essential beauty

4. 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

5. derived from or relating to an extract of a plant, drug, etc

   an essential oil

6. 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

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

8. pathol (of a disease) having no obvious external cause

   essential hypertension

9. 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

Related Words

See necessary. 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 Word Forms

• essentiality noun
• essentially adverb
• essentialness noun
• preessential noun
• preessentially adverb
• quasi-essential adjective
• quasi-essentially adverb
• subessential adjective
• subessentially adverb
• subessentialness noun

Etymology

Origin of essential

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

Example Sentences

Evolution repurposed ancient infections into essential parts of human biology, including the placenta and adaptive immunity.

From The Wall Street Journal

Positioned about a million miles from Earth, Webb uses a massive sunshield to keep its instruments extremely cold, which is essential for detecting faint infrared signals.

From Science Daily

Abel’s name has long popped up in Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders, considered essential reading among stock pickers—even those who don’t own Berkshire shares.

From The Wall Street Journal

At the same time, genes essential for normal liver function, including those involved in metabolism and protein secretion, were gradually shut down.

From Science Daily

Understanding how these chemicals evolve across different stages of plastic breakdown will be essential for assessing their long-term environmental impact.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• condition
• element
• essence
• fundamental
• must
• precondition
• prerequisite
• principle
• requirement
• requisite