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essential - 5 dictionary results

es⋅sen⋅tial

  [uh-sen-shuhl]
Use essential in a Sentence
–adjective
1. absolutely necessary; indispensable: Discipline is essential in an army.
2. pertaining to or constituting the essence of a thing.
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.
a. (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.
b. (of a discontinuity) noting that the function is discontinuous and has no limit at the point. Compare removable (def. 2).
–noun
6. a basic, indispensable, or necessary element; chief point: Concentrate on essentials rather than details.
Origin:
1300–50; ME essencial < ML essenciālis for LL essentiālis. See essence, -al 1

Related forms:
es⋅sen⋅tial⋅ly, adverb
es⋅sen⋅tial⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. fundamental, basic, inherent, intrinsic, vital. See necessary. 2. 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.

Antonyms:
2. incidental, extraneous, extrinsic; accidental.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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es·sen·tial   (ĭ-sěn'shəl)   
adj.  
  1. Constituting or being part of the essence of something; inherent.
  2. Basic or indispensable; necessary: essential ingredients. See Synonyms at indispensable.
  3. Medicine Of, relating to, or being a dysfunctional condition or a disease whose cause is unknown: essential hypertension.
  4. Biochemistry Being a substance that is required for normal functioning but cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore must be included in the diet: essential amino acids.
n.  
  1. Something fundamental.
  2. Something necessary or indispensable.
es·sen'ti·al'i·ty (-shē-āl'ĭ-tē), es·sen'tial·ness n., es·sen'tial·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Essential

Es*sen"tial\, a. [Cf. F. essentiel. See Essence.]

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 a name, And no essential thing? --Webster (1623).

3. Important in the highest degree; indispensable to the attainment of an object; indispensably necessary.

Judgment's more essential to a general Than 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; as, an essential oil. "Mine own essential horror." --Ford.

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : essential
Spanish: esencial, imprescindible,
German: wesentlich,
Japanese: 絶対必要な
More Translations »

Main Entry: es·sen·tial
Pronunciation: i-'sen-ch&l
Function: adjective
1 : being, relating to, or containing an essence essential odor>
2 : having no obvious or known cause : IDIOPATHIC<essential disease>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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essential es·sen·tial (ĭ-sěn'shəl)
adj.

  1. Constituting or being part of the essence of something; inherent.
  2. Basic or indispensable; necessary.
  3. Of, relating to, or being a dysfunctional condition or a disease whose cause is unknown.
  4. Of, relating to, or being a substance that is required for normal functioning but cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore must be included in the diet.
n.
  1. Something fundamental.
  2. Something necessary or indispensable.
es·sen'ti·al'i·ty (-shē-āl'ĭ-tē) or es·sen'tial·ness n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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