/
ɪˈsɛnʃ(ə)l/
adj.
- absolutely necessary; extremely important.
- central to the nature of something; fundamental:
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the essential weakness of the plaintiff's case.
- (of an amino acid or fatty acid) required for normal growth but not synthesized in the body and therefore necessary in the diet.
- Medicine (of a disease) with no known external stimulus or cause; idiopathic.
n.
(
essentials)
- things that are absolutely necessary.
- the fundamental elements of something.
Derivative
- essentiality n.
- essentially adv.
- essentialness n.
Etymology
ME (in the sense ‘in the highest degree’): from late L. essentialis, from L. essentia (see essence).
