Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Extremely significant or important.
  • adjective Vital to the resolution of a crisis or the determination of an outcome: synonym: decisive.
  • adjective Archaic Having the form of a cross; cross-shaped.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the form of a cross; transverse; intersecting; decussating: as, a crucial incision.
  • In anatomy, specifically applied to two stout decussating ligaments in the interior of the knee-joint, connecting the spine of the tibia with the intercondyloid fossa of the femur.
  • Decisive, as between two hypotheses; finally disproving one of two alternative suppositions.
  • Of or pertaining to a crucible; like a heated crucible as a utensil of chemical analysis.
  • Pertaining to or like a cross as an instrument of torture for eliciting the truth; excessively strict and severe: said of a proceeding of inquiry.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having the form of a cross; appertaining to a cross; cruciform; intersecting.
  • adjective Severe; trying or searching, as if bringing to the cross; decisive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Being essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important.
  • adjective archaic Cruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.
  • adjective slang Term of approval, particularly when applied to reggae music.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of the greatest importance
  • adjective of extreme importance; vital to the resolution of a crisis
  • adjective having crucial relevance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1706, from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux, crucis ("cross") (English crux), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”).

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Examples

  • Averroes has, unlike Avicenna, made the way something is picked out by the term crucial in determining what kind of modal proposition is produced.

    Arabic and Islamic Philosophy of Language and Logic Street, Tony 2008

  • Graham fears deep newsroom cuts would eviscerate local reporting, which he called crucial to "the health of the city."

    Ron Perelman Bidding For Philadelphia Newspapers 2010

  • Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign-policy representative, welcomed Tuesday what he described as a crucial step in a "historic process" to bring stability to the troubled Caucasus region.

    Responses to Turkey-Armenia Pact Point to Hurdles Ahead 2009

  • BASH: McCain says he's going to Colombia to spotlight his support for free trade, which he calls crucial to jump-starting the U.S. economy -- a sharp difference with Barack Obama.

    CNN Transcript Jul 1, 2008 2008

  • BASH: McCain says he's going to Colombia to spotlight his support for free trade which he calls crucial to jump-starting the U.S. economy.

    CNN Transcript Jul 1, 2008 2008

  • BASH: McCain says he's going Colombia to spotlight his support for free trade, which he calls crucial to jump starting the U.S. economy, a sharp difference with Barack Obama.

    CNN Transcript Jul 1, 2008 2008

  • BASH: McCain says he's going to Colombia to spotlight his support for free trade, which he calls crucial to jump starting the U.S. economy.

    CNN Transcript Jul 2, 2008 2008

  • France in a bid to drum up support for the plan, which he called a crucial part of efforts to lead the world's poorest continent down the path to economic prosperity.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2003

  • Mark D. Wallace, president of United Against Nuclear Iran, said in a telephone interview that the group might seek Congressional hearings on Iran's Swift membership, which he described as crucial to the country's economic survival.

    NYT > Home Page By RICK GLADSTONE 2012

  • Mark D. Wallace, president of United Against Nuclear Iran, said in a telephone interview that the group might seek Congressional hearings on Iran's Swift membership, which he described as crucial to the country's economic survival.

    NYT > Home Page By RICK GLADSTONE 2012

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  • Jesus' role in human history was crucial.

    July 5, 2020