1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of life: See synonyms at living. 2. Necessary to the continuation of life; life-sustaining: a vital organ; vital nutrients.3. Full of life; animated: “The population of the teeming, vital slum . . . declined” (Rick Hampson). 4. Imparting life or animation; invigorating: the sun's vital rays.5. Necessary to continued existence or effectiveness; essential: “Irrigation was vital to early civilization” (William H. McNeill). “A vital component of any democracy is a free labor movement” (Bayard Rustin). 6. Concerned with or recording data pertinent to lives: vital records.7.Biology Used or done on a living cell or tissue: vital dyes; vital staining.8. Destructive to life; fatal: a vital injury.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old French, from Latin vtlis, from vta, life. See gwei- in Appendix I.
v
t
l
lis, from v
