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)

Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.

Respect towards ancestors is an essential part of Thai spiritual practice.

* Sir Thomas Browne

God's law is spiritual ; it is a transcript of the divine nature, and extends its authority to the acts of the soul of man.

Of or pertaining to God or a place of worship; sacred.

Of or pertaining to spirits; supernatural.

Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal.

a spiritual substance or being

* Bible, 1. Corinthians xv. 44

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

Of or relating to the intellectual and higher endowments of the mind; mental; intellectual.

(Christianity) Controlled and inspired by the Holy Spirit; pure; holy.

* Bible, Gal. vi. 1

If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual , restore such an one.

Not lay or temporal; relating to sacred things; ecclesiastical.

the spiritual''' functions of the clergy; lords '''spiritual''' and temporal; a '''spiritual corporation