indispensable

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪndɪˈspɛnsəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

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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.

• See also Thesaurus:requisite

• dispensable

• indispensability
• indispensable nation
• indispensableness
• indispensably

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.]

From in- +‎ dispensable.

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

indispensable m or f (masculine and feminine plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

   Antonym: dispensable

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

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.dis.pɑ̃.sabl/

• Audio

  (file)

indispensable (plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

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

From in- +‎ dispensable.

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

indispensable m or f (masculine and feminine plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

   Synonym: imprescindible

   Antonym: dispensable

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