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View synonyms for essential

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. Compare removable ( def 2 ).


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

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Derived Forms

  • essentiality, noun

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Other Words From

  • 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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of essential1

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

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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.

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Example Sentences

Like plenty of other modern direct-to-consumer companies, influencer marketing has been an essential part of Fabletics’ journey.

Before understanding Canix, it’s essential to know the landscape of growing legal cannabis in the United States.

These changes have stopped the essential flow of nutrient-rich sediment to the river’s deltas and the wetlands they support.

We know that our body is colonized by microbes, particularly in the gut, which perform metabolic processes essential to our lives.

Thus, it is essential to build public confidence in the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, so more people will volunteer to get vaccinated.

From Fortune

Indeed, she finds, mistakes are an essential part of learning.

The mere fact that I am a manifestation of Reality doesn’t entail that I have cognitive access to the essential nature of Reality.

It goes beyond the actual dollars, though, as recruiting and retaining a committed group of donors is essential to a nonprofit’s longevity, says Laura Tomasko, policy program manager at the Urban Institute.

From Fortune

Such tests should be used for screening people en masse in settings like nursing homes, essential workplaces, and communities that have limited testing resources, proposes a team at Duke University’s Margolis Center for Health Policy.

But Winning Marriage will be essential for the historian who, someday, tries to tell the full story.

Law 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.”

Young Living traffics in essential oils designed to help relax and rejuvenate.

Claiming to be useful against Ebola, autism, and cancer, Young Living Essential Oils came under fire from the FDA.

A simple look around the Internet finds much to worry about in the world of essential oils.

Ultimately, disclosure laws are an essential tool for promoting transparent supply chains and corporate accountability.

If liquor and dessert are equally essential to you enjoying the holiday, at least choose your libation wisely.

These gentlemen, said Clausewitz in brief, had the misfortune of mistaking the accoutrements of war for its essential nature.

Under the ACA, adults without minimal essential coverage will be charged a penalty when they file their tax return.

Each working in its own way was essential to ending Jim Crow in the South.

Controlling the corridor was essential to supporting deep operations elsewhere in eastern Afghanistan.

The essential fault lies not with the stars around him, however dim, but with himself.

This is especially true of single women and women of color, who are both essential parts of the Democratic coalition.

Ohio is the essential Midwest battleground for any presidential campaign.

So too with Iran: The nuclear deal is grounded in verification, which is essential for its success.

That shift in the dynamic is essential to give Republicans a positive voice in the debate on solutions.

These will be essential to dealing with this incredibly divisive issue.

Next, the passage of a comprehensive jobs bill is essential for Republicans.

It was thought essential to strike hard and fast with maximum force in order to achieve quick, decisive victory.

Water itself is of course essential to the growth of every plant, but the benefits of Irrigation reach far beyond this.

As a rule, however, persistent glycosuria is diagnostic of diabetes mellitus, of which disease it is the essential symptom.

Such are most probably given by the essential oils, which vary in amount in different species of the plant.

But the essential problem of to-day is to know how far we are to depart from its principles.

In its essential nature socialism is nothing but a proposal for certain kinds of economic reform.

Nor was ever a better presentation made of the essential program of socialism.

The essential point in which it differs from any other known mineral consists in its being at once fibrous and textile.

Besides having parties,—one essential of a covenant in its proper acceptation, this relation with God has conditions.

The essential point to grasp, however, is that society at large has nothing to lose by the process.

Long pallets and a large and steady body of air below each pipe are deemed essential.

But they all possess that essential purity and richness of tone without which there is no real excellence.

This is essential, otherwise it is impossible to play double notes correctly in tune.

The claims of its glorious Object, its own essential nature, and its design, all conspire in this.

Of the other substances, iodine is restricted exclusively to sea-plants, but to them it appears to be essential.

Occasions happen when the removal of directors is essential to the welfare of a corporation.

The location is an essential element, and the policy will not be stretched to cover property not within the description.

Nor need they live under the same roof, the essential thing is the relation and dependence existing between them.

And a license to do a particular act necessarily involves any act essential thereto.

These resolves condemned the Stamp Act and defiantly acclaimed the rights which they considered essential to civil liberty.

She was a graduate, and probably knew nothing of what he thought essential for a teacher to know.

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Esseneessential amino acid