necessity
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
From Middle English necessite, from Old French necessite, from Latin necessitās (“unavoidableness, compulsion, exigency, necessity”), from necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”); see necessary.
Pronunciation
Noun
necessity (countable and uncountable, plural necessities)
- The condition of being needy; desperate need; lack.
- 1863, Richard Sibbes, The Successful Seeker, in The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, D.D., Volume VI, James Nichol, page 125,
- For it is in vain for a man to think to seek God in his necessity and exigence, if he seek not God in his ordinances, and do not joy in them.
- 1863, Richard Sibbes, The Successful Seeker, in The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, D.D., Volume VI, James Nichol, page 125,
- Something necessary; a requisite; something indispensable.
- A tent is a necessity if you plan on camping.
- 1967, Terry Gilkyson (lyrics and music), “The Bare Necessities”, in The Jungle Book:
- Look for the bare necessities / The simple bare necessities / Forget about your worries and your strife
- 20th century, Tenzin Gyatso (attributed)
- Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
- Something which makes an act or an event unavoidable; an irresistible force; overruling power.
- After eating a full meal, the human body's necessity for food will compel the person to eat again in the future.
- 1804, The Small Celandine, Wordsworth:
- I stopped, and said with inly muttered voice,
'It doth not love the shower, nor seek the cold:
This neither is its courage nor its choice,
But its necessity in being old.
- The negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (law) Greater utilitarian good; used in justification of a criminal act.
- (law, in the plural) Indispensable requirements (of life).
Synonyms
- (state of being necessary): inevitability, needfulness, certainty
- (requisite): requirement
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “state of being necessary”): impossibility, contingency
- (antonym(s) of “something indispensable”): luxury
Derived terms
Terms derived from "necessity"
Related terms
Terms etymologically related to "necessity"
Translations
condition of being needy or necessitous
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that which is necessary
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negation of freedom in voluntary action
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Further reading
- “necessity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “necessity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
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