vital

English Online Dictionary. What means vital‎? What does vital mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English vital, from Old French vital, from Latin vītālis (“of life, life-giving”), from vīta (“life”), from vīvō (“I live”). Doublet of jiva and quick.

Pronunciation

• enPR: vī'təl, IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪtəl/
• Rhymes: -aɪtəl

Adjective

vital (comparative more vital, superlative most vital)

1. Relating to, or characteristic of life.

   Synonym: lifely
2. Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends.
3. Invigorating or life-giving.
4. Necessary to continued existence.

5. Relating to the recording of life events.

6. Very important.

   Synonyms: crucial, necessary, significant; see also Thesaurus:important
7. Containing life; living.

   Synonyms: extant, live, kicking; see also Thesaurus:alive
8. Lively, having vitality
9. Capable of living; in a state to live; viable.

Antonyms

• mortal

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• “vital”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “vital”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “vital”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vitālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [biˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [viˈtal]

Adjective

vital m or f (masculine and feminine plural vitals)

1. vital

Related terms

• vida
• vitalitat

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French vital, from Latin vītālis (“of life, life-giving”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.tal/
• Homophones: vitale, vitales

Adjective

vital (feminine vitale, masculine plural vitaux, feminine plural vitales)

1. vital

Derived terms

• nœud vital
• pronostic vital

Related terms

• vitalité
• vie

Further reading

• “vital”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vītālis (“of life, life-giving”).

Adjective

vital m or f (plural vitais)

1. vital (relating to, or characteristic of life)
2. vital, important, necessary

Related terms

• vida
• vitalidade

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vītālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viˈtaːl/
• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

vital (strong nominative masculine singular vitaler, comparative vitaler, superlative am vitalsten)

1. lively; hale; vigorous

   Synonyms: lebhaft, markig, rüstig, voller Leben

2. (rather rare, formal) vital (necessary to, or characteristic of life)

   Synonyms: lebenswichtig, Lebens-

Declension

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch vitaal, from Middle French vital, from Latin vītālis.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈvital/ [ˈfi.t̪al]
• Rhymes: -ital
• Syllabification: vi‧tal

Adjective

vital

1. vital:
   1. very important
   2. (medicine) necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends
2. critical: extremely important

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “vital” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Interlingua

Adjective

vital (not comparable)

1. vital

Related terms

• vita

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vitalis.

Adjective

vital (neuter singular vitalt, definite singular and plural vitale)

1. vital

References

• “vital” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vitalis.

Adjective

vital (neuter singular vitalt, definite singular and plural vitale)

1. vital

References

• “vital” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vītālis.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: vi‧tal

Adjective

vital m or f (plural vitais)

1. vital (relating to, or characteristic of life)
2. vital (necessary to the continuation of life)
3. vital (very important)

   Synonyms: crucial, fundamental, essencial

Related terms

• vida
• vitalidade
• vitalmente

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vital, from Latin vitalis.

Adjective

vital m or n (feminine singular vitală, masculine plural vitali, feminine and neuter plural vitale)

1. vital

Declension

Related terms

• vitalitate

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vitālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biˈtal/ [biˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: vi‧tal

Adjective

vital m or f (masculine and feminine plural vitales)

1. vital

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

• vivo

Further reading

• “vital”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10