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.

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noun

• essentials
  plural

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

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noun

1. something fundamental or indispensable

   a sharp eye is an essential for a printer

2. music an essential note

Synonym Usage

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• essentials
  plural

Etymology

Origin of essential

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

Explanation

Essential means very basic or necessary. A good frying pan is one of a short list of kitchen essentials every cook must have. To prevent fires, it's essential to turn off appliances before leaving the house. The adjective essential is often followed by to or that: It is essential to wash your hands. It is essential that you dry them after. This adjective is from Middle English essencial, from Late Latin essentialis, from Latin essentia "the basic nature of a thing, its essence" plus the Latin suffix -alis "relating to."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

essential essentials

But first, you will need to provide documentation showing that he requires long-term care and needs help bathing, dressing and eating, among other essential tasks.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Kaynat Ahmad, vice president for further education at the National Union of Students, described the railcard as "essential for young people reliant on trains to get to college, work or training".

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

“An affordable and resilient housing market is essential to driving economic growth and increasing opportunity,” said Michelle Herrick, head of commercial real estate for JPMorgan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Novack grew up nearby, where gardening, albeit with nonnative plants like gladiolus, had been an essential part of her childhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

While states in the North abolished it, the South considered slave labor to be essential to its economic success.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

An improvement in the finances of working people at the lower end of the economic scale might help explain why their spending on both essentials and discretionary items has accelerated recently, some economists said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

"They spend a larger share of their income on essentials, limiting their ability to adjust spending in response to higher prices," it said.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

For parks like Fiesta Village, the rising cost of essentials such as food ultimately makes survival harder, said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, a consulting firm.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

Economists led by Shruti Mishra divided out consumption by household income, but importantly, stripped out the essentials of housing, utilities and healthcare.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

He knew it was an extravagance, that he should only take essentials, but he had to have it.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

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