integral
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.necessary and important as a part of a whole system or object.
adj.essential to completeness; constituent or forming a necessary part of a whole.
Simple“Regular exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle.”
In context“The research team argued that community engagement was integral to the project's long-term success rather than a secondary consideration.”
UsageOften followed by the preposition 'to'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
n.a mathematical calculation used to find things like the area under a curved line.
n.the result of a mathematical integration; a function representing the area under the graph of another function.
Simple“The students had to calculate the definite integral for their homework.”
In context“The physicist used a double integral to determine the total mass of the object based on its varying density.”
UsageCommonly distinguished as 'definite' or 'indefinite' integrals.
SynonymsantiderivativeAntonyms
Usage integral part · robust integral
“Happily, Hughes is expected back by early autumn at the latest and appears integral to the team’s survival hopes.”
“Programs were heavily weighted toward the teaching and learning domain, neglecting integral aspects of student life, business and operations, workplace culture and policies, and equity in research.”
Borrowed from Middle French integral, from Medieval Latin integrālis, from Latin integer (“entire”); see integer.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.