Definitions

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

  • adjective Having little or no importance; not essential.
  • adjective Being a substance that is required for normal functioning but does not need to be included in the diet because of the body's ability to synthesize it from other nutrients.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not essential or necessary; not absolutely necessary.
  • noun A thing that is not essential, absolutely necessary, or of the utmost consequence.

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

  • adjective Not essential.
  • noun A thing not essential.

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

  • adjective Not required; not essential.
  • noun Something that is not essential.

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

  • noun anything that is not essential
  • adjective not of prime or central importance

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

non- +‎ essential

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