Webster's English Dictionary

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essential

1. es.sen.tial \i-'sen-ch*l\ \i-.sen-che--'al-*t-e-\ \i-'sench-(*-)le-\ 
   \i-'sen-ch*l-n*s\ aj 1: of, relating to, or constituting essence : INHERENT 
    2: containing or constituting a volatile essence that imparts the characte 
   ristic odor of a plant {~ oil} 3: IDIOPATHIC  4: belonging to the tonality 
   of a musical work  so important as to be indispensable. ESSENTIAL implies 
   belonging to the very nature of a thing and therefore incapable of removal 
   without destroying the thing itself or its character; FUNDAMENTAL applies 
   to something that is a foundation without which an entire system or complex 
   whole would collapse; VITAL suggests something that is as necessary to a 
   thing's continued existence or operation as air, food, and water are to 
   living things; CARDINAL suggests something on which an outcome turns or 
   depends - es.sen.ti.al.i.ty n SYN syn ESSENTIAL, FUNDAMENTAL, VITAL, 
   CARDINAL mean 
2. essential n 1: something basic {~s of astronomy}  2: something 
   necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable