Essential
[ɪ'senʃ(ə)l] or [ɪ'sɛnʃl]
Definition
(adj.) basic and fundamental; 'the essential feature' .
(adj.) absolutely necessary; vitally necessary; 'essential tools and materials'; 'funds essential to the completion of the project'; 'an indispensable worker' .
(adj.) being or relating to or containing the essence of a plant etc; 'essential oil' .
Inputed by Joanna--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Belonging to the essence, or that which makes an object, or class of objects, what it is.
(a.) Hence, really existing; existent.
(a.) Important in the highest degree; indispensable to the attainment of an object; indispensably necessary.
(a.) Containing the essence or characteristic portion of a substance, as of a plant; highly rectified; pure; hence, unmixed; as, an essential oil.
(a.) Necessary; indispensable; -- said of those tones which constitute a chord, in distinction from ornamental or passing tones.
(a.) Idiopathic; independent of other diseases.
Typed by Connie
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Vital, necessary, requisite, indispensable, highly important.[2]. Volatile, pure, highly rectified.[3]. (Med.) Idiopathic, not symptomatic.
n. [1]. Nature, first principle.[2]. Chief point, most important part.
Inputed by Franklin
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Innate, inherent, requisite, necessary, vital, immanent, indispensable,leading, accidental, qualitative, quantitative, promotive, regulative, induced,imported, adventitious, adscititious, redundant, superfluous
Inputed by Augustine
Examples
- Her hands lay on the paddle like slumber, she only wanted to see him, like a crystal shadow, to feel his essential presence. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- This Ph?nician alliance sustained him, and was the essential element in the greatness of his son Solomon. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The discovery of America, however, certainly made a most essential one. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- But all power of a high order depends on an understanding of the essential character, or law, of heat, light, sound, gravity, and the like. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The order and convenience of a palace are no less essential to its beauty, than its mere figure and appearance. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Essential Factor in American Life. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- In all typewriters accurate location of the impression is essential to proper alignment of the letters, and proper alignment is the _sine qua non_ of typewriting. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Pray give us the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards question you as to those details which seem to me to be most important. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- When the trade had extended into all the surrounding counties, however, the new business needed another prime essential of industry--transportation facilities. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- For while it is illuminating to see how environment moulds men, it is absolutely essential that men regard themselves as moulders of their environment. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- They formed an essential and permanent middle class. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- It appears, then, that the ideas which are most essential to geometry, viz. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- In his travels, and in his accompanying readings, he had come to the conclusion that the essential secret of life was harmony. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Now we may put the essential facts about mammalian reproduction in another way. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But in all the intimate relations of life his essential tenderness was manifest. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- I am attempting to suggest some of the essentials of a statesman's equipment for the work of a humanly centered politics. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The things which are socially most fundamental, that is, which have to do with the experiences in which the widest groups share, are the essentials. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The Essentials of Method. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The philosophical mind of Thales laid hold, no doubt, of some of the essentials of astronomical science. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Moreover, the curriculum must be planned with reference to placing essentials first, and refinements second. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- In essentials, I believe, he is very much what he ever was. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- The machine which exists is accepted in all its essentials: the goo-goo yearns for a somewhat smoother rotation. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Their ideas jarred so little with the essentials of Christianity that they believed themselves to be devout Christians. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- In this matter, again, the records of ancient civilizations show the pains that were taken to fix these essentials of science. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Just give us some short sketches of the essentials. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The lesson of it all, it seems to me, is this: that class interests are the driving forces which keep public life centered upon essentials. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- My little apartment here, my few essentials for the toilet, my frugal morning meal, and my little dinner will suffice. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- It is not my purpose, in this record, though in all other essentials it is my written memory, to pursue the history of my own fictions. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The essentials of method are therefore identical with the essentials of reflection. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
Checked by Alyson