essentialadj.n.
/ᵻˈsɛnʃl/, U.S. /əˈsɛn(t)ʃ(ə)l/ A. adj.
1. In various senses related to essence n. 1 – 4.† b. Having existence, real, actual. Also, identical with what now exists. Obsolete.† c. Relating to position in the scale of being. Obsolete. rare.† d. Dependent on the intrinsic character or condition of anything, not on extraneous circumstances. Of diseases: Idiopathic (cf. essence n. 3b). essential merit (Theology) = ‘merit of condignity’, the merit belonging to good works in proportion to their intrinsic excellence; so essential reward. † f. Thorough, entire.
a. That is such by essence, or in the absolute or highest sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adjective] > that is such in the absolute or highest sense
essentialc1340
absolutec1454
formal1691
c1340 R. Rolle Prose Treat. (1866) 16 Þe souerayne and þe escencyalle joy es in þe lufe of Godd by hymselfe and for hym-selfe, and þe secundarye es in, etc.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. i. 22 The poem..to which we return..claims the name of essential poetry.
1877 W. Sparrow Serm. xv. 203 As the love of God is essential happiness, sin, which is enmity to him, is essential misery, eternal misery.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adjective] > existent or existing
bornOE
sustaineda1450
beingc1460
essential1535
existent1535
extant1561
existing1578
eventual1752
beënt1865
1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 27 Monasteries..which the kinges maiestie..shall declare and limittee to continue and be in their assencial estate.
1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 28 §3 As if the same monasteryes..hadde contynued in ther essencyall bodyes and states that thei now be or were in.
1552 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16280.5) Administr. Lordes Supper (Declar. on Kneeling) sig. O.iv Any reall and essenciall presence.
a1635 R. Corbet Poems 62 Was his essential table full and free As boasts and invitations used to be?
ΚΠ
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. vi. 122 The production of Creatures of various degrees of essential perfection.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adjective] > depending on the essence of a thing
essential1502
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) iv. iv. sig. r.iiii He shall not be rewarded of meryte essencyall, for those werkes done in dedely synne.
?1563 Visct. Montagu tr. J. Fisher Godlie Treat. Prayer sig. D7 Euerie merit.. whiche is recompensed by essentiall rewarde (as they call it) in heauen.
a1654 J. Webster in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. (1890) Is it true, then, that thou art but a name, And no essential thing?
1875 C. Lyell & L. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 12) I. i. iii. 28 Mountains are formed, he [Avicenna] says, some by essential, others by accidental causes.
1884 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Essential disease, a disease complete in itself, and not depending on, or symptomatic of another.
Categories »
e. essential debility, essential dignity (Astrology): see the nouns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute > of a person or his character
utterc1420
complete1526
entirea1533
throughout1532
in grain?1577
consummate1603
essential1604
perfecta1616
thorough1625
thorough-paceda1628
thoroughbred1701
throughgoing1830
through and through1831
thorough-souled1842
ingrained1851
ingrain1865
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore ii. i. 195 Oh hees a most essentiall gentleman, coz.
1697 C. Cibber Womans Wit iii. 38 Dear Ladies, your most Essential humble Servant.
2. Of or pertaining to essence, specific being, or intrinsic nature. essential difference (Logic): = ‘specific difference’, differentia n. essential character: in scientific classification, the marks which distinguish a species, genus, etc. from the others included with it in the next superior division. essential proposition (Logic): one which predicates of a subject something that is implied in its definition. †essential name (Theology): see quot. 1495. essential form (metaphorical): see form n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adjective]
substantial?a1425
essential1495
quidditativec1600
quiddative1642
substantial1649
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) i. sig. Aiv/1 The names signyfienge or betokenynge the dyuyne essence or beynge ben callid names essencialles.
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. sig. I7 The essentiall fourme of Marble stone, Tempered by science metaphisicall.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. ii. 49 In which essentiall vnitie of God.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. F2 Deceit or vntruth..doth destroy the essentiall fourme of knowledge, which is nothing but a representation of truth. View more context for this quotation
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 4 [The copula] signifies an essentiall attribution (that is) that, the latter part of the definition doth giue being vnto the former.
1656 J. Bramhall Replic. to Bishop of Chalcedon 3 Rationability..is a substantiall part of a man, because it is a part of his definition, or his essentiall difference.
1709 J. Reynolds Death's Vision vii. Notes 6 Essential Forms I say, rather than Substantial.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. iii. 63 Its [sc. Virtue's] having, in the essential Nature of the thing, a Tendency to procure them [sc. Superiority and Advantages].
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) I. 212 The nectary gives the essential character.
1846 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 2) i. vi. §4 An essential proposition then, is one which is purely verbal.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 171 The desire to ascertain..the essential nature of virtue.
3.
a. Constituting, or forming part of, the essence of anything; belonging to a thing by virtue of its essence; necessarily implied in its definition; indispensably entering into its composition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adjective] > essential or constituting the essence
formalc1386
substantial1422
essential1546
radical1562
constitutive1610
essentifical1656
constituent1659
vital1659
qualifying1704
constitutional1750
staminal1798
substantive1858
1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke iv. i. 82 His only begotten son equal to him in essential power.
1596 E. Spenser Fowre Hymnes xvi Those essentiall parts of his, His truth, his love, his wisedome, and his blis.
1654 J. Bramhall Just Vindic. Church of Eng. vii. 225 By the Law of nature as an essential right of Sovereignty.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. vi. 209 The thought of any thing essential to any of them, instantly vanishes.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels I. 54 The Glory of God is so exquisite in itself and so Essential to Him, that, etc.
1862 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. II. i. 9 The desire of reputation..is an essential part of human nature.
1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe i. 23 In the essential immortality of the soul.
b. Affecting the essence of anything; ‘material’, important.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > essential or central
cardinal1440
material1603
primal1619
real1620
centrical1659
vital1659
essential1770
nucleal1826
key1832
pivotal1837
keystone1846
pivot1861
quintessential1901
central1902
core1962
1770 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xli. 116 You have done essential service to the cause.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. 44 The piercing eye of the founder of the republic must have discerned two essential imperfections.
1794 E. Burke Rep. Lords' Jrnls. in Wks. (1842) II. 617 To have adopted the civil law with no very essential variation.
1871 J. S. Blackie Four Phases Morals i. 142 It is not in the nature of things that a better man should receive essential harm from a worse.
4.
a. Absolutely necessary, indispensably requisite. essential vows: the three vows (of chastity, poverty, and obedience) indispensable to the monastic life.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > [adjective]
needfulOE
necessaryc1376
needfulc1390
necessairea1393
needfula1402
necessariousc1410
requisite1442
unlackablec1443
unsparablec1449
necessc1475
requise1477
needy1487
exigentc1508
of necessityc1515
essential1526
insacrificablea1603
peremptory1607
unspared1614
sine qua non1615
real1620
necessitous1637
needsomec1650
undispensable1658
vital1659
wanting1671
implemental1676
sine quo non1693
indispensable1696
indispensible1792
vital1822
unmissable1823
of the essence (of)1843
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. FFFiiii The lyfe of religious persons, that professed the .iii. essenciall vowes.
1612 Bp. J. Hall in J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. Commend. Pref. sig. § Those sciences which are so essentiall to the spirituall house of God.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 4 The first and essential point of Building, (to wit, Solidity with Ornament and Conveniency).
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 279. ¶8 That serious Air which seems essential to the Magnificence of an Epic Poem.
1807 T. Thomson Syst. Chem. (ed. 3) II. 85 Silica..is an essential ingredient in mortar.
1858 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 425 Propositions which I hold to be most essential for a right understanding of history.
1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Parish Churches 223 The essential quality of a monument is permanence.
b. Music. essential chord, in early use = common chord; in later use = fundamental adj. 7a, opposed to accidental (see quot. 18062). essential harmony (see quot. 1851). essential notes: the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of a chord. essential sharps and flats (see quot. 18061).
ΚΠ
1721 A. Malcolm Treat. Musick ix. 277 Of the natural Notes of every Mode or Octaue, Three go under the Name of the essential Notes, in a peculiar Manner, viz. the Fundamental, the 3d, and 5th.
1806 J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. (1817) 55 Sharps or flats..which occur in the course of the Movement..are termed accidental, to distinguish them from those of the Signature, which are essential to the Scale of the original key note.
1806 J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. (1817) 202 His [Kirnberger's] arrangement of Chords, into essential and accidental.
1851 Warner tr. Weber Th. Composition 258 There are only certain particular harmonies, which belong to any one particular key..These are called the Essential harmonies of the key.
1880 G. Grove Dict. Music I. 679/1 at Harmony The use of preliminary notes a semitone above or below any note of an essential chord.
5. † c. essential salt n. Obsolete see quot.
a. That is of the nature of, or resembles, an essence or extract (see essence n. 10); that is in a state of essence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical properties > [adjective] > of the nature of an essence or extract
essential1651
1651 J. French Art Distillation v. 113 This Spirit contains in it..essentiall Sulphur.
1673 N. Grew Idea Phytol. Hist. ii. v. 97 In the Vessels a more essential Liquor..in the Fibres a more simple and essential Air.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 120. ⁋2 They filled his apartments with alexipharmics, restoratives, and essential virtues.
1832 W. Wordsworth Devot. Incitements From humble violet—modest thyme—Exhaled, the essential odours climb.
b. essential oil n. a volatile oil, obtained by distillation, and marked by the characteristic odour of the plant or substance from which it is extracted; as the oil of laurel, oil of turpentine, etc. Now often as a synonym of ‘volatile oil’.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > volatile oil
ethereal oil1664
essential oil1682
volatile oil1800
1682 N. Grew Of Mixture i. App. §1 in Anat. Plants 237 Having..made mention of the preparation of Essential Oyls.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron II. vi. xiv. 51 The Soul of any Plant..is neither more nor less than its essential Oil.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 90 Volatile oil, likewise called essential oil, differs from fixed oil, in being capable of evaporation by a much lower degree of heat.
1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 208 The Volatile or Essential Oils are destitute of the strength of the fixed oils.
1867 J. Hogg Microscope (ed. 6) i. iii. 205 Sections of woods..containing gum, resin, etc., should be soaked in essential oil, alcohol, or ether.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > substances for food preparation > [noun] > plant juices > crystallization of
essential salt1708
1708 J. Kersey Dict. Anglo-Britannicum Essential Salt of a Plant, (in Chym.) is made of the pounded Juice of the Plant, strain'd and set for some time in a Cellar, till the Salt shoot out into Crystals.
1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 9 The essential salt is that which is obtain'd by Chrystallization from the Juices of Plants.
1800 tr. E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange Man. Course Chem. II. 181 What the first chemists called, in general, the Essential Salts of Vegetables.
6. quasi-adv.= essentially adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adverb]
formlyc1374
virtuallya1398
essentially1398
pithily1434
substantial1447
in substance1460
quidditativelyc1600
absolutely1654
constitutionally1766
essential1827
substantively1828
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time II. x. 244 His face with clouds Of glory circled round, essential bright!
B. n.† 1. What exists; existence, being. Obsolete.† 3. plural. Inmost nature; ‘vitals’. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [noun] > that which exists
entity1604
essential1667
instant1677
ent188.
is1897
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 93 His utmost ire..Will..quite consume us, and reduce To nothing this essential . View more context for this quotation
2. † a. plural = essential vows at sense A. 4a; see A. 4. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) i. xxi. sig. h.iv Euer after to obserue, the essencyals thre.
a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) ii. xxiii. sig. r.viii The sensuals thre.
b. More generally: something belonging to the essence of a thing; an indispensable element or adjunct; also, in weaker sense, a chief or leading point. Originally only in plural; in later use, occasionally singular.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > [noun] > that which is necessary
needc1230
necessityc1390
necessary?a1425
exigence1446
requisitec1487
exigency1588
exigents1588
sine qua non1602
essentiala1620
implement1632
indispensable1681
needful1681
simple1858
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) i. iv. §3. 23 Vowes, and invocations, and other the Essentials of religion.
1751 J. Harris Hermes i. viii. 172 These Matters..being rather among the Elegancies, than the Essentials of Language.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §266 If..all our essentials had duly performed their duties, we could have reaped little advantage from them.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 191 Well, well, no occasion to be particular, tell the essentials.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. i. vii. §1 Natural motive powers..are a help, but not an essential of production.
1850 A. Jameson Legends Monastic Orders 241 The distinction between the Franciscans and Dominicans lay not in essentials, but merely in point of discipline.
1861 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (new ed.) i. 7 The first essential to the patient, without which all the rest..is as nothing.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. v. 111 A tendency..to be blinded by exterior trivialities to interior essentials.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [noun] > essential elements
substantialsa1398
internala1594
formal1605
fundamental1617
materialsa1631
essentials1663
hardtack1888
basic1934
funda1989
1663 R. South Serm. preached Nov. 9, 1662 34 The plague of sin has even altered his nature, and eat into his very essentials.
Draft additions January 2018
Biology. Of a nutrient or other metabolically active substance: that is required for the survival and normal growth of an organism; spec. that is not made in adequate amounts by the body and must be obtained in the diet; as essential amino acid, essential fatty acid, essential vitamin, etc.
ΚΠ
1866 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. vi. 145 If it is worth while to make a special classification of the vital food stuffs at all, it appears desirable to distinguish the essential food stuffs, or proteids, from the accessory food-stuffs.
1883 Dental Reg. 37 39 Whole wheat meal, besides containing other essential mineral elements, has double the amount of lime, and nearly three times the amount of phosphoric acid.
1911 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 May 1068/2 This essential amino acid is split off earlier, and therefore is probably better absorbed in the intestine and utilized in the body.
1922 Lancet 9 Sept. 552/1 The addition of the essential vitamin would effect a cure of the disorder [sc. rickets].
1930 G. O. Burr & M. M. Burr in Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 86 619 Linoleic acid (and possibly other acids) therefore is an essential fatty acid.
1971 H. S. Kushner When Children ask about God ii. 32 Like foods that contain essential vitamins not yet isolated by science, I believe the Hebrew (like the Greek and Norse) legends nourish us at a level not easily translated into intellectual terms.
2002 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 4416/2 Nearly half of the amino acids in egg protein are essential.
2013 Independent on Sunday 10 Nov. 11/2 The unmatched health properties of the only plant food that contains all the essential amino acids, trace elements and vitamins compelled the UN to declare 2013 the international year of quinoa.
Draft additions March 2021
essential worker n. a worker who is of crucial importance within a particular field or enterprise; now esp. an employee who provides a vital public service within a community, especially in the police, health, transport, or education sectors.Cf. key worker n. 3.
ΚΠ
1855 N.-Y. Evangelist 2 Aug. 1/3 The teacher is an essential worker in the right training of every young community.
1949 A. A. Calwell Immigration 21 Nominated migrants who can be accommodated by their nominators and are classed as essential workers for Australian industry, [etc.].
2020 Philadelphia Inquirer (Nexis) 2 Sept. a 12 I am an anesthesiologist and have taken care of many COVID-19 patients. I am an essential worker who wears PPE every day, sometimes for 12 hours straight.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adj.n.c1340