crucial
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
1706, from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux, crucis (“cross”) (English crux), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”).
The meaning “decisive, critical” is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon in his influential Novum Organum (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
crucial (comparative more crucial, superlative most crucial)
- Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:important
- The battle of Tali-Ihantala in 1944 is one of the crucial moments in the history of Finland.
- A secure supply of crude oil is crucial for any modern nation, let alone a superpower.
- 2014 March 7, Nicole Vulser, “Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 190, number 13, page 30:
- The perfume industry is facing a major problem: maintaining constant levels of quality is crucial, but it is increasingly difficult to obtain a regular supply of all the necessary natural ingredients.
- 2018, Clarence Green; James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists, collocations and word families for eight secondary subjects”, in Journal of English for Academic Purposes, volume 35, , page 106:
- Vocabulary provides a foundation from which grammar, phonology, and morphology emerge, and in a subject area it provides access to conceptual knowledge. Vocabulary selection for pedagogical purposes is therefore crucial.
- 2021 October 1, A Falun Dafa practitioner in France, “Using Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to Guide My Young Students”, in Minghui[1]:
- Language is crucial because it is the best weapon against violence. When children don’t have the words to express their thoughts, they raise their fists.
- (archaic) Cruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.
- (slang, especially Jamaica, Bermuda) Very good; excellent; particularly applied to reggae music.
- Delbert Wilkins is the most crucial pirate radio DJ in Brixton.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
Translations[edit]
extremely important
|
cross-shaped
|
References[edit]
- ^ Francis Bacon (1620) Novum Organum [New Organon] (in Latin), XXXVI: “Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco decimo quarto Instantias Crucis; translato vocabulo a Crucibus, quae erectae in biviis indicant et signant viarum separationes.”
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From a root of Latin crux (“cross”). The sense of "crucial" is a semantic loan from English crucial.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
crucial (feminine cruciale, masculine plural cruciaux, feminine plural cruciales)
Descendants[edit]
- → English: crucial
Further reading[edit]
- “crucial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Portuguese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
crucial m or f (plural cruciais)
Quotations[edit]
For quotations using this term, see Citations:crucial.
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “crucial” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Adjective[edit]
crucial m or n (feminine singular crucială, masculine plural cruciali, feminine and neuter plural cruciale)
Declension[edit]
Declension of crucial
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | crucial | crucială | cruciali | cruciale | ||
| definite | crucialul | cruciala | crucialii | crucialele | |||
| genitive/ dative |
indefinite | crucial | cruciale | cruciali | cruciale | ||
| definite | crucialului | crucialei | crucialilor | crucialelor | |||
Further reading[edit]
- crucial in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Spanish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from English crucial.
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): (Spain) /kɾuˈθjal/ [kɾuˈθjal]
- IPA(key): (Latin America) /kɾuˈsjal/ [kɾuˈsjal]
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: cru‧cial
Adjective[edit]
crucial (plural cruciales)
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “crucial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)ker- (turn)
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/uːʃəl
- Rhymes:English/uːʃəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with archaic senses
- English slang
- Jamaican English
- Bermudian English
- French terms derived from Latin
- French semantic loans from English
- French terms derived from English
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al/3 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw/3 syllables
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/al
- Rhymes:Spanish/al/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives