ESSENTIAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does essential mean? 

• ESSENTIAL (noun)
  The noun ESSENTIAL has 1 sense:

1. anything indispensable

  Familiarity information: ESSENTIAL used as a noun is very rare.

• ESSENTIAL (adjective)
  The adjective ESSENTIAL has 5 senses:

1. absolutely necessary; vitally necessary

2. basic and fundamental

3. of the greatest importance

4. being or relating to or containing the essence of a plant etc

5. defining rights and duties as opposed to giving the rules by which rights and duties are established

  Familiarity information: ESSENTIAL used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ESSENTIAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Anything indispensable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

essential; necessary; necessity; requirement; requisite

Context example:

a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained

Hypernyms ("essential" is a kind of...):

thing (a separate and self-contained entity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "essential"):

desideratum (something desired as a necessity)

must (a necessary or essential thing)

need; want (anything that is necessary but lacking)

Antonym:

inessential (anything that is not essential)

Derivation:

essential (absolutely necessary; vitally necessary)

• ESSENTIAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Absolutely necessary; vitally necessary

Synonyms:

essential; indispensable

Context example:

an indispensable worker

Similar:

necessary (absolutely essential)

Derivation:

essential (anything indispensable)

essentialness (basic importance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Basic and fundamental

Context example:

the essential feature

Similar:

staple (necessary or important, especially regarding food or commodities)

life-sustaining; vital (performing an essential function in the living body)

virtual (existing in essence or effect though not in actual fact)

substantial; substantive (of or relating to the real nature or essential elements of something)

no-frills (characterized by the absence of inessential features)

must (highly recommended)

constituent; constitutional; constitutive; organic (constitutional in the structure of something (especially your physical makeup))

biogenic (essential for maintaining the fundamental life processes)

Also:

crucial; important (of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis)

indispensable (not to be dispensed with; essential)

unexpendable (not suitable to be expended)

important; of import (of great significance or value)

intrinsic; intrinsical (belonging to a thing by its very nature)

necessary (absolutely essential)

primary (of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary)

Attribute:

essentiality; essentialness (basic importance)

Antonym:

inessential (not basic or fundamental)

Derivation:

essentiality; essentialness (basic importance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of the greatest importance

Synonyms:

all-important; all important; crucial; essential; of the essence

Context example:

in chess cool nerves are of the essence

Similar:

important; of import (of great significance or value)

Derivation:

essence (the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience)

essentiality; essentialness (basic importance)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Being or relating to or containing the essence of a plant etc

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

essential oil

Pertainym:

essence (any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted)

Derivation:

essence (any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted)

essentialness (basic importance)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Defining rights and duties as opposed to giving the rules by which rights and duties are established

Synonyms:

essential; substantive

Context example:

substantive law

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

essentialness (basic importance)

 Context examples 

Essentially the cells become confused and begin pushing out essential inner components rather than waste, leading to a loss of function and ultimately their death.

(New Mechanisms Found of Cell Death in Neurodegenerative Disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Over millions of years of evolution, this efficient use of energy provided an essential advantage: when food was scarce, organisms stored rather than burn some of the ingested energy, and they survived longer.

(Some gut cells slow down metabolism, accelerate cardiovascular disease, National Institutes of Health)

One of nine essential amino acids in humans (provided by food), Methionine is required for growth and tissue repair.

(Methionine, NCI Thesaurus)

The RNA are then used to create new proteins in the synapses, which are essential for keeping the synapses working properly, especially during memory formation and learning.

(Mechanism behind neuron death in motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia discovered, University of Cambridge)

It plays a key role in the absorption of calcium and phosphorous, which are essential for the building of bones and teeth.

(Vitamin D3 boost helps treat child malnutrition, SciDev.Net)

Traces of various aldehydes are found in essential oils and often contribute to their odors.

(Aldehyde, NCI Thesaurus)

The researchers found that bacterial vesicles suppressed the binding of viruses to the cell surface, an essential step before the virus can infect a cell.

(Vesicles released by bacteria may reduce the spread of HIV in human tissue, National Institutes of Health)

Satellites orbiting Mars are essential in helping scientists determine the best places for building the first Martian research station.

(NASA's Treasure Map for Water Ice on Mars, NASA)

Aldehydes are found in essential oils (scented liquid taken from plants).

(Aldehyde, NCI Dictionary)

Ocean algae depend on phosphorus, which is essential to all life on Earth.

(Study reveals new patterns of key ocean nutrient, National Science Foundation)