Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Essential
1.
Belonging to the essence, or that which makes an object, or class of objects, what it is.
Majestic as the voice sometimes became, there was forever in it an
essential
character of plaintiveness. Hawthorne.
2.
Hence, really existing; existent.
Is it true, that thou art but a name,
And no
And no
essential
thing? Webster (1623).
3.
Important in the highest degree; indispensable to the attainment of an object; indispensably necessary.
Judgment’s more
Than courage.
essential
to a generalThan courage.
Denham.
How to live? – that is the
essential
question for us. H. Spencer.
4.
Containing the essence or characteristic portion of a substance, as of a plant; highly rectified; pure; hence, unmixed;
“Mine own essential horror.” as, an
. essential
oilFord.
5.
(Mus.)
Necessary; indispensable; – said of those tones which constitute a chord, in distinction from ornamental or passing tones.
6.
(Med.)
Idiopathic; independent of other diseases.
Essential character
(Biol.)
, the prominent characteristics which serve to distinguish one genus, species, etc., from another.
– Essential disease
,
Essential fever
(Med.)
, one that is not dependent on another.
– Essential oils
(Chem.)
, a class of volatile oils, extracted from plants, fruits, or flowers, having each its characteristic odor, and hot burning taste. They are used in essences, perfumery, etc., and include many varieties of compounds; as
lemon oil
is a terpene, oil of bitter almonds
an aldehyde, oil of wintergreen
an ethereal salt, etc.; – called also volatile oils
in distinction from the fixed or nonvolatile.Es-sen′tial
(ĕs-sĕn′sjal)
, Noun.
1.
Existence; being.
[Obs.]
Milton.
2.
That which is essential; first or constituent principle;
as, the
. essentials
of religionWebster 1828 Edition
Essential
ESSEN'TIAL
,Adj.
And if each system in gradation roll,
Alike essential to the amazing whole--
1.
Important in the highest degree.Judgment is more essential to a general than courage.
2.
Pure; highly rectified. Essential oils are such as are drawn from plants by distillation in an alembic with water, as distinguished from empyreumatic oils, which are raised by a naked fire without water.ESSEN'TIAL
,Noun.
1.
First or constituent principles; as the essentials of religion.2.
The chief point; that which is most important.Definition 2024
essential
essential
English
Adjective
essential (comparative more essential, superlative most essential)
- Necessary.
- Very important; of high importance.
- 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
- In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. Essential public services are cut so that the rich may pay less tax. […]
-
- (biology) necessary for survival but not synthesized by the organism, thus needing to be ingested
- Being in the basic form; showing its essence.
- Don’t mind him being grumpy. That’s the essential Fred.
- Really existing; existent.
- Webster (1623)
- Is it true, that thou art but a name, / And no essential thing?
- Webster (1623)
- (of a lamination of a 3-manifold) Such that each complementary region is irreducible, the boundary of each complementary region is incompressible by disks and monogons in the complementary region, and no leaf is a sphere or a torus bounding a solid torus in the manifold.
- (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (medicine) Idiopathic.
Synonyms
- indispensable, crucial, substantive
- See also Wikisaurus:requisite
Antonyms
- inessential, unessential, accidental, nonessential, unneeded, adscititious, unimportant, accessorial, unnecessary, incidental
Derived terms
terms derived from essential (adjective)
Translations
necessary
|
|
of high importance
|
|
needing to be ingested
|
in basic form
|
Noun
essential (plural essentials)
- A necessary ingredient.
- A fundamental ingredient.
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
Translations
necessary ingredient
|
|
fundamental ingredient
|
Related terms
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /esˈsen.ti.aːl/, [ɛsˈsɛn.ti.aːɫ]
Noun
essentiāl n (genitive essentiālis); third declension
- essentials (essential qualities)
Related terms
Inflection
Third declension neuter.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | essentiāl | essentiāla |
| genitive | essentiālis | essentiālum |
| dative | essentiālī | essentiālibus |
| accusative | essentiāl | essentiāla |
| ablative | essentiāle | essentiālibus |
| vocative | essentiāl | essentiāla |