essential

1. Anything indispensable (synset 109390100)
   "food and shelter are necessities of life"; "the essentials of the good life"; "allow farmers to buy their requirements under favorable conditions"; "a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained"
   is a type of: thing - a separate and self-contained entity
   subtypes:

   • desideratum - something desired as a necessity
   • must - a necessary or essential thing
   • need, want - anything that is necessary but lacking
   same as: necessary, necessity, requirement, requisite

1. Absolutely necessary;
   Vitally necessary (synset 301584714)
   "essential tools and materials"; "funds essential to the completion of the project"; "an indispensable worker"
   similar to: necessary - absolutely essential
   same as: indispensable
2. Basic and fundamental (synset 300903909)
   "the essential feature"
   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
   tells us about: essentiality, essentialness - basic importance
   similar to:

   • biogenic - essential for maintaining the fundamental life processes
   • constituent, constitutional, constitutive, organic - constitutional in the structure of something (especially your physical makeup)
   • must - highly recommended
   • no-frills - characterized by the absence of inessential features
   • staple - necessary or important, especially regarding food or commodities
   • substantial, substantive - of or relating to the real nature or essential elements of something
   • virtual - existing in essence or effect though not in actual fact
   • life-sustaining, vital - performing an essential function in the living body
3. Of the greatest importance (synset 301279260)
   "the all-important subject of disarmament"; "crucial information"; "in chess cool nerves are of the essence"
   similar to: important, of import - of great significance or value
   same as: all important, all-important, crucial, of the essence
4. Being or relating to or containing the essence of a plant etc (synset 302733724)
   "essential oil"
5. Defining rights and duties as opposed to giving the rules by which rights and duties are established (synset 300055779)
   "substantive law"
   referred to in: jurisprudence, law - the collection of rules imposed by authority
   same as: substantive

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