- being an essential part of something
- Music is an integral part of the school's curriculum.
- integral to something Practical experience is integral to the course.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- [usually before noun] included as part of something, rather than supplied separately
- The unit comes complete with integral pump and heater.
- [usually before noun] having all the parts that are necessary for something to be complete
- an integral system
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from late Latin integralis, from integer ‘whole’, from in- (expressing negation) + the root of tangere ‘to touch’. Compare with integrate and integrity.
Check pronunciation:
integral