"essential" in seven languages
Meaningessential
Spanish
esencial
/esenˈθjal/
learned
French
essentiel
/esɑ̃sjɛl/
learned
Italian
essenziale
/essenˈtsjale/
learned
Portuguese
essencial
/esẽsiˈaw/
learned
Romanian
esențial
/esentsiˈal/
learned
Catalan
essencial
/əsənsiˈal/
learned
English
essential
/ɪˈsɛnʃəl/
from Latin/French · Late Latin ESSENTIĀLIS
English → ItalianessentialessenzialeCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
ESSENTIĀLEM‘of the essence (from ESSE 'to be')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Built on ESSENTIA, a word philosophers made from ESSE 'to be': what is essential is what a thing is. French l'essentiel also means 'the main thing'.
English relatives: essence, essentially
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl agua es esencial para la vida.
- frL'eau est essentielle à la vie.
- itL'acqua è essenziale per la vita.
- ptA água é essencial para a vida.
- roApa este esențială pentru viață.
- caL'aigua és essencial per a la vida.
- enWater is essential for life.
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