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crucial

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
cru·cial  (krshl)
adj.
1.
a. Extremely significant or important: a crucial problem.
b. Vital to the resolution of a crisis; decisive: a crucial election. See Synonyms at decisive.
2. Archaic Having the form of a cross; cross-shaped.

[From New Latin (nstantia) crucis, (expermentum) crucis, crossroads (case), crossroads (experiment), from Latin crux, cruc-, cross. Sense 2, French, from Old French, from Latin crux.]

crucial·ly adv.
Word History: A crucial election is like a signpost because it shows which way the electorate is moving. The metaphor of a signpost, in fact, gives us the sense of the word crucial, "of supreme importance, critical." Francis Bacon used the phrase instantia crucis, "crucial instance," to refer to something in an experiment that proves one of two hypotheses and disproves the other. Bacon's phrase was based on a sense of the Latin word crux, "cross," which had come to mean "a guidepost that gives directions at a place where one road becomes two," and hence was suitable for Bacon's metaphor. Both Robert Boyle, often called the father of modern chemistry, and Isaac Newton used the similar Latin phrase experimentum crucis, "crucial experiment." When these phrases were translated into English, they became crucial instance and crucial experiment.

crucial [ˈkruːʃəl]
adj
1. involving a final or supremely important decision or event; decisive; critical
2. Informal very important
3. Slang very good
[from French, from Latin crux cross]
crucially  adv
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj.1.crucial - of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis; "a crucial moment in his career"; "a crucial election"; "a crucial issue for women"
critical - being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency; "a critical shortage of food"; "a critical illness"; "an illness at the critical stage"
decisive - determining or having the power to determine an outcome; "cast the decisive vote"; "two factors had a decisive influence"
essential - basic and fundamental; "the essential feature"
noncrucial - of little importance; not decisive
2.crucial - having crucial relevance; "crucial to the case"; "relevant testimony"
material - directly relevant to a matter especially a law case; "his support made a material difference"; "evidence material to the issue at hand"; "facts likely to influence the judgment are called material facts"; "a material witness"
3.crucial - of the greatest importance; "the all-important subject of disarmament"; "crucial information"; "in chess cool nerves are of the essence"
important, of import - of great significance or value; "important people"; "the important questions of the day"

crucial
adjective
1. (Informal) vital, important, pressing, essential, urgent, momentous, high-priority the most crucial election campaign in years
2. critical, central, key, psychological, decisive, pivotal, now or never At the crucial moment, his nerve failed.
Translations
crucial [ˈkruːʃəl] ADJdecisivo, crucial
the next few weeks will be crucial for this governmentlas próximas semanas van a ser decisivas or cruciales para este gobierno
their cooperation is crucial to the success of the projectsu colaboración resulta crucial para el éxito del proyecto
to play a crucial role in sthdesempeñar un papel decisivo or crucial en algo

crucial [ˈkruːʃəl] adj [factor, point, question, difference, decision] → crucial(e); [role, part] → décisif/ive; [meeting, election] → crucial(e); [match, goal] → décisif/ive; [moment, time] → critique
to play a crucial part in sth → jouer un rôle décisif dans qch
to be crucial to sth [+ success] → être essentiel(le) à qch; [+ future, survival] → être crucial(e) pour qch; [+ understanding] → être crucial(e) à qch
it is crucial (that) ... → il est crucial que ... + subj

crucial
adj
(= decisive)entscheidend (to für)
(= very important)äußerst wichtig
(Med) incision etckreuzförmig

crucial [ˈkruːʃl] adjcruciale, decisivo/a
crucial to → essenziale per
his approval is crucial to the success of the project → la sua approvazione è essenziale per il successo del progetto
crucial [ˈkruːʃl] adjcruciale, decisivo/a
crucial to → essenziale per
his approval is crucial to the success of the project → la sua approvazione è essenziale per il successo del progetto

crucial
adj crucial [ˈkruːʃəl]
involving a big decision; of the greatest importance He took the crucial step of asking her to marry him; The next game is crucial – if we lose it we lose the match. deurslaggewend, kritiek حاسِم، فاصِل решителен rozhodující afgørende; kritisk entscheidend κρίσιμος crucial otsustav حیاتی؛ سرنوشت ساز ratkaiseva crucial חִיוּנִי निर्णायक, संकटकालीन ključan, presudan döntő penting sekali, yang menentukan áríðandi; úrslita-, örlaga- cruciale 決定的な 결정적인 lemiamas, lemtingas kritisks; izšķirošs penting beslissend avgjørende, svært vanskelig przełomowy decisivo crucial, hotărâtor решающий rozhodujúci odločilen presudan avgörande สำคัญมาก çok önemli 決定性的, 至關緊要的 вирішальний, критичний فيصل‍ہ كن، قطعى rất quan trọng ,

crucial عصيب velmi důležitý afgørende entscheidend ζωτικός crucial ratkaisevan tärkeä crucial ključan cruciale 重大な 결정적인 cruciaal svært viktig decydujący crucial ключевой kritisk สำคัญมาก önemli rất quan trọng 关键性的


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
The moles supply us with what we scientific men call a Crucial Test.
Falk obeys the law of self-preservation without the slightest misgivings as to his right, but at a crucial turn of that ruthlessly preserved life he will not condescend to dodge the truth.
Only a few days since you, yourself, told me that these great brutes, by the uncertainty of their tempers, often were the means of turning victory into defeat, since, at a crucial moment, they might elect to unseat and rend their riders.
 
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