indispensable

indispensable

English

Etymology

From Middle French indispensable, from Medieval Latin indispensābilis, corresponding to in- +‎ dispensable.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪndɪˈspɛnsəbəl/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

indispensable (comparative more indispensable, superlative most indispensable)

1. (ecclesiastical, obsolete) Not admitting ecclesiastical dispensation; not subject to release or exemption; that cannot be allowed by bending the canonical rules. [16th–17th c.]
2. (of duties, rules etc.) Unbendable, that cannot be set aside or ignored. [from 17th c.]
   • 1679–1715, Gilbert Burnet, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of the Reformation of the Church of England., London: […] T[homas] H[odgkin] for Richard Chiswell, […]:

     The law was moral and indispensable.

3. Absolutely necessary or requisite; that one cannot do without. [from 17th c.]

   An indispensable component of a heart-healthy diet.

   • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion‎:

     But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal. This only magnified the indispensable nature of the oligopolists.

   • 7 July 2022, Boris Johnson, resignation speech‎:

     And my friends in politics, no-one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:requisite

Antonyms

• dispensable

Derived terms

• indispensability
• indispensableness
• indispensably

Translations

not dispensable

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Asturian: indispensable Belarusian: незаме́нны (njezamjénny), неабхо́дны (be) (njeabxódny) Catalan: indispensable (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: onmisbaar (nl) Finnish: välttämätön (fi), korvaamaton (fi) French: indispensable (fr) Galician: indispensábel (gl), indispensable (gl), imprescindíbel (gl), imprescindible (gl) Georgian: აუცილებელი (aucilebeli) German: unverzichtbar (de) Hungarian: kihagyhatatlan (hu), elmaradhatatlan, nélkülözhetetlen (hu), elengedhetetlen (hu) Interlingua: indispensabile Italian: indispensabile (it) Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Polish: niezbędny (pl), nieodzowny (pl) Portuguese: indispensável (pt) Romanian: indispensabil (ro) Russian: (lit.: irreplaceable) незамени́мый (ru) (nezamenímyj), необходи́мый (ru) (neobxodímyj) Slovak: nepostrádateľný m Spanish: indispensable (es) Swedish: oumbärlig (sv), oundgänglig (sv), omistlig (sv) Ukrainian: незамі́нний (nezamínnyj), необхі́дний (neobxídnyj)

not subject to exemption

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: недопускащ изключения (nedopuskašt izključenija) Chinese: Mandarin: 必不可少的 Czech: nepostradatelný m Dutch: onmisbaar (nl) Finnish: ehdoton (fi) German: ausnahmlos, grundsätzlich (de) Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Bokmål: uten unntak, unntaksløs, unntakslaus Nynorsk: utan unnatak Portuguese: indispensável (pt) Romanian: indispensabil (ro) Russian: please add this translation if you can Serbo-Croatian: neophodan (sh) m Spanish: indispensable (es) Turkish: istisnasiz, muafiyetsiz

absolutely necessary

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Belarusian: абавязко́вы (be) (abavjazkóvy) Bulgarian: необходим (bg) (neobhodim) Catalan: indispensable (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 必要的 Dutch: onontbeerlijk (nl) Finnish: olennainen (fi), välttämätön (fi) French: indispensable (fr) German: unabdingbar (de), unabkömmlich (de), unentbehrlich (de), unerlässlich (de), unverzichtbar (de) Greek: αναντικατάστατος (el) (anantikatástatos) Irish: riachtanach Norwegian: Bokmål: uunnværlig Nynorsk: uunnverleg Portuguese: indispensável (pt), imprescindível (pt) Russian: обяза́тельный (ru) (objazátelʹnyj) Slovak: nutné n, nevyhnutne potrebné n, neodmysliteľný m Spanish: imprescindible (es), indispensable (es) Swedish: oumbärlig (sv) Turkish: elzem (tr), zaruri (tr) Ukrainian: обов'язко́вий (obovʺjazkóvyj)

Noun

indispensable (plural indispensables)

1. A thing that is not dispensable; a necessity. [from 17th c.]
2. (in the plural, colloquial, dated) Trousers. [from 19th c.]

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Catalan

Etymology

in- +‎ dispensable

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /in.dis.pənˈsa.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /in.dis.penˈsa.ble/
• Hyphenation: in‧dis‧pen‧sa‧ble

Adjective

indispensable (masculine and feminine plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

   Antonym: dispensable

Further reading

• “indispensable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “indispensable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.dis.pɑ̃.sabl/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

indispensable (plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

Further reading

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

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Spanish

Etymology

in- +‎ dispensable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /indispenˈsable/ [ĩn̪.d̪is.pẽnˈsa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧dis‧pen‧sa‧ble

Adjective

indispensable (plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

   Synonym: imprescindible

   Antonym: dispensable

Derived terms

• indispensablemente

Further reading

• “indispensable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014