Integral

How to spell integral

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce integral

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does integral mean?

1. adjectiveNecessary to make something complete; forming an essential part of a whole.
2. nounIn calculus, a quantity found by summing infinitely small parts, the inverse of differentiation.

Integral in a sentence

• adjective

  Trust is an integral part of any working partnership.

• noun

  The engineer calculated the integral to find the area under the curve.

• adjective

  The back-up generator is integral to the building's safety system.

• noun

  Solving the integral gave the total distance travelled over time.

Where does integral come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin integralis, meaning 'forming a whole', which was built on integer, meaning 'whole', 'complete', or literally 'untouched'. That root is itself a compound of in-, meaning 'not', and a form of tangere, meaning 'to touch', so an integer was something that had not been touched or interfered with and therefore remained intact. English adopted integral in the 1500s, first in the sense of 'belonging to a whole', and mathematicians later borrowed it for the calculus operation that sums infinitely small parts into a whole quantity. The same integer root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'entire', 'integrity', and the number term 'integer', all of which carry that idea of wholeness. The spelling keeps the g and the single r of integer, so picturing the word 'integer' inside it helps you avoid doubling or dropping letters.

How the word is built

• integr- (from Latin integer: whole, untouched)
• -al (adjective/noun suffix)