essentials
- 1The core information needed to gain a basic understanding of a topic.
The first chapter lays out the essentials of organic chemistry.
She brushed up on the essentials of contract law before the meeting.
Similarbasics, fundamentals, rudiments, principles
Note
Here the word stretches from packed supplies to knowledge, the facts a beginner cannot do without. It is plural-only and usually comes with the, in the frame the essentials of a subject: of contract law, of organic chemistry. No single fact is "an essential" in this sense. That missing singular is the easiest way to tell it from the plural of essential, whose items can each be counted.
- 2Plural of essential.
The store ran low on essentials during the storm.
Travelers should keep their essentials in a carry-on bag.
Note
Behind the plural stands a countable noun, essential, "a necessary ingredient", which shares its spelling with the adjective meaning "necessary" or "very important." In the plural it names a set of needed things taken together: supplies, staples, the contents of a carry-on bag. It takes a plural verb (the essentials are packed), and any one item in the set can still be called an essential.
essentials is a form of essential
essential, noun: Something necessary or fundamental; a basic part or thing that something cannot do without (often plural, the essentials). Full entry
- Forms
- essentialessentials plural
- Spelling
- essential → essentials: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with essentials, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.