essential

[uh-sen-shuhl]

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

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of essential¹

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

The Snap programme works by giving people reloadable debit cards that they can use to buy essential grocery items.

Read more on BBC

Leaving plants and leaves under trees creates a “soft landing” for these essential creatures, whose populations have dropped an alarming 22% in just the last 20 years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It is a right that has long been, and should remain, an essential pillar of our democratic society but we are seeing time and time again that this right is being eroded."

Read more on Barron's

Tylor and Robertson Smith agreed, however, that what Tylor called the “essential rationality of primitive peoples” linked the savage past and the civilized present.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s essential to get details about the hardship program in writing, as well as contact information for a person at the financial institution who can answer questions.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

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