essentially

«essentially» in Mova's school dictionary: basically, in the most important way, when you leave out… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adverb (essentially)

meaning for a pupil

1) Essentially means basically, in the most important way, when you leave out small details. tree →

2) (formal) Essentially can mean necessarily, as something that must be there. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in explanations and summaries: «essentially, a bat is a flying mammal». In arguments it introduces the main point. Phrases: essentially the same, is essentially, essentially means.

examples

• A tadpole is essentially a baby frog. tree →
• The two games are essentially the same, just with different colours. tree →
• Essentially, we need more chairs. tree →
• The story is essentially about friendship. tree →
• Multiplication is essentially repeated addition. tree →
• The plan is essentially finished. tree →
• This is an essentially Indian trait; almost all Hindus have some tribal or caste mark on their bodies or faces. tree →

note

Comes from essential and essence. Note double l: essentially. Spoken English sometimes overuses it as a filler. In maths «essentially the same» does not mean exactly equal — check the numbers.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «essentially» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.