indispensable

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪndɪˈspɛnsəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (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^[1]:

     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^[2]:

     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
• indispensable nation
• indispensableness
• indispensably

Translations

not dispensable

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Asturian: indispensable
• Belarusian: незаме́нны (njezamjénny), неабхо́дны (be) (njeabxódny)
• Bengali: অত্যাবশ্যক (bn) (ottabośśok), অতি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ (oti guruttopurno), অতি প্রয়োজনীয় (oti proẏōjoniẏo), অতি জরুরি (oti joruri)
• Catalan: indispensable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: onmisbaar (nl)
• Esperanto: nemalhavebla
• 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 (hu), 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: неотъе́млемый (ru) (neotʺjémlemyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: neophodan (sh) m
• Spanish: indispensable (es)
• Turkish: istisnasız (tr), muafiyetsiz

absolutely necessary

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: абавязко́вы (be) (abavjazkóvy)
• Bengali: অত্যাবশ্যক (bn) (ottabośśok), অতি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ (oti guruttopurno), অতি প্রয়োজনীয় (oti proẏōjoniẏo), অতি জরুরি (oti joruri)
• 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: необходи́мый (ru) (neobxodímyj), непрело́жный (ru) (neprelóžnyj), обяза́тельный (ru) (objazátelʹnyj)
• Slovak: nutné n, nevyhnutne potrebné n, neodmysliteľný m
• Spanish: imprescindible (es), indispensable (es), indefectible (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.]

Catalan

Etymology

From in- +‎ dispensable.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

indispensable m or f (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.

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.

Spanish

Etymology

From in- +‎ dispensable.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

indispensable m or f (masculine and feminine plural indispensables)

1. indispensable

   Synonym: imprescindible

   Antonym: dispensable

Derived terms

• indispensablemente

 

Further reading

• “indispensable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10