Adjective

(en adjective)

Relating to, or characteristic of life.

vital''' energies; '''vital''' functions; '''vital actions

Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends.

The brain is a vital organ.

* Spenser

Do the heavens afford him vital food?

Invigorating or life-giving.

Necessary to continued existence.

The transition to farming was vital for the creation of civilisation.

Relating to the recording of life events.

Birth, marriage and death certificates are vital records.

Very important.

It is vital that you don't forget to do your homework.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-12-14

, author=Simon Jenkins, authorlink=Simon Jenkins , title=We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys , volume=188, issue=2, page=23 , date=2012-12-21 , magazine= citation , passage=David Cameron insists that his latest communications data bill is “vital to counter terrorism”. Yet terror is mayhem. It is no threat to freedom. That threat is from counter-terror, from ministers capitulating to securocrats.}}

Containing life; living.

* Milton

spirits that live throughout, vital in every part

* Alexander Pope

The dart flew on, and pierced a vital part.

Capable of living; in a state to live; viable.

* Sir Thomas Browne

Pythagoras and Hippocrates affirm the birth of the seventh month to be vital .

Adjective

(en adjective)

Having relevant and crucial value.

:

*

*:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.

*1988, (Robert Ferro), Second Son :

*:For this was the most important thing, that when a person felt strongly about an issue in life, it mustn’t be ignored by others; for if it was, everything subsequent to it would turn out badly, even though there should seem to be no direct connection.

*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw

, title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}