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

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

Fact-checking is an essential part of journalism, but on the face of it this did not appear to be a difficult story to confirm.

From BBC

After the party's success at May's local and mayoral elections, he argued the 2026 races for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd would be "an essential building block" ahead of a UK general election.

From BBC

“The scary part was he was in real need of help,” said Charlie, marveling at how even someone with so much experience and training could fall into so much peril when separated from essentials.

From Los Angeles Times

"That's why is essential for these children to go to school, get an education and accomplish their goals."

From BBC

Ives doesn’t expect customers to abandon Prime due to Amazon’s latest move because he said many view the service as being as essential as their utilities or TV service.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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