vital

The definition of vital is something that is absolutely essential or necessary or a person who is lively and full of life.

(adjective)

  1. An example of vital is your heart.
  2. An example of vital is a person who is always active and on-the-go.

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See vital in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

  1. of, concerned with, or manifesting life: vital energy
    1. necessary or essential to life; being a source or support of life: vital organs
    2. affecting, esp. destroying, life; critical, esp. fatal: a vital wound
    1. essential to the existence or continuance of something; indispensable: a vital function
    2. of crucial importance: a vital matter
  2. affecting the validity, truth, etc. of something: a vital error
  3. full of life and vigor; energetic: a vital personality

Origin: ME < MFr < L vitalis, vital < vita, life, akin to vivere, to live: see bio-

noun

  1. the vital organs, as the heart, brain, lungs, etc.
  2. the essential parts of anything, indispensable for its existence, continuance, etc.

Related Forms:

See vital in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective
  1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of life: See Synonyms at living.
  2. Necessary to the continuation of life; life-sustaining: a vital organ; vital nutrients.
  3. Full of life; animated: “The population of the teeming, vital slum . . . declined” (Rick Hampson).
  4. Imparting life or animation; invigorating: the sun's vital rays.
  5. Necessary to continued existence or effectiveness; essential: “Irrigation was vital to early civilization” (William H. McNeill). “A vital component of any democracy is a free labor movement” (Bayard Rustin).
  6. Concerned with or recording data pertinent to lives: vital records.
  7. Biology Used or done on a living cell or tissue: vital dyes; vital staining.
  8. Destructive to life; fatal: a vital injury.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Latin vītālis

Origin: , from vīta, life; see gwei- in Indo-European roots

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Related Forms:

  • viˈtal·ly adverb
  • viˈtal·ness noun

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