From Latin 'vitalis' (of life), from 'vivere' (to live) — meaning essential for life, or full of energy.
Absolutely necessary or important; essential. Relating to or sustaining life. Full of energy; lively.
From Old French 'vital,' from Latin 'vītālis' (of or belonging to life, life-giving), from 'vīta' (life), a noun derived from the verb 'vīvere' (to live), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (to live). This root is among the most productive in the Indo-European family, yielding Greek 'bios' (life) — source of 'biology,' 'biography,' and 'antibiotic' — and Sanskrit 'jīva' (living, alive), as well as Latin 'vīvere,' 'vīvus' (alive), and 'convīvium' (a feast, literally a living-together). English absorbed 'vital' in the 14th century in the medical
The word 'vitamin' was coined in 1912 by the Polish biochemist Casimir Funk, who combined 'vital' (from Latin 'vīta,' life) with 'amine' (a type of organic compound containing nitrogen). Funk believed that all the essential nutritional substances he was studying were amines. When it turned out that not all vitamins contain an amine group, the final 'e' was dropped — 'vitamine' became 'vitamin' — but the 'vital' element survived