necessity

[nuh-ses-i-tee]

noun

plural

necessities 

1. something necessary or indispensable.

   food, shelter, and other necessities of life.

2. the fact of being necessary or indispensable; indispensability.

   the necessity of adequate housing.

3. an imperative requirement or need for something.

   the necessity for a quick decision.

   Synonyms: demand

4. the state or fact of being necessary or inevitable.

   to face the necessity of testifying in court.

5. an unavoidable need or compulsion to do something.

   not by choice but by necessity.

6. a state of being in financial need; poverty.

   a family in dire necessity.

   Synonyms: want, indigence, neediness

7. Philosophy.,  the quality of following inevitably from logical, physical, or moral laws.

necessity

/ nɪˈsɛsɪtɪ /

noun

1. (sometimes plural) something needed for a desired result; prerequisite

   necessities of life

2. a condition or set of circumstances, such as physical laws or social rules, that inevitably requires a certain result

   it is a matter of necessity to wear formal clothes when meeting the Queen

3. the state or quality of being obligatory or unavoidable

4. urgent requirement, as in an emergency or misfortune

   in time of necessity we must all work together

5. poverty or want

6. rare,  compulsion through laws of nature; fate

7. philosophy

   1. a condition, principle, or conclusion that cannot be otherwise

   2. the constraining force of physical determinants on all aspects of life Compare freedom

8. logic

   1. the property of being necessary

   2. a statement asserting that some property is essential or statement is necessarily true

   3. the operator that indicates that the expression it modifies is true in all possible worlds

9. inevitably; necessarily

Other Word Forms

• nonnecessity noun
• supernecessity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of necessity¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English necessite, from Latin necessitās, from necess(e) “needful” + -itās -ity

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. of necessity, as an inevitable result; unavoidably; necessarily.

   Our trip to China must of necessity be postponed for a while.

More idioms and phrases containing necessity

• make a virtue of necessity
• of necessity

Synonym Study

See need.

Example Sentences

For many evangelical leaders, having an expensive home, clothes, a car and other accouterments are a necessity — even if their own members are struggling financially.

From Salon

A necessity to turn around their white-ball fortunes means England cannot afford to do the same with their key men.

From BBC

Lutnick defended the move as an economic necessity, arguing that U.S. higher education would “empty from the top” without foreign students.

From Salon

Boy Kavalier thinks he owns him, negating all necessity for his subject’s approval.

From Salon

However, police have advised Tianjin's more than 13 million residents to avoid moving around the city if possible and to stick to shops nearby them to purchase any immediate necessities.

From BBC

Related Words

• essential 
• fundamental 
• obligation 
• precondition 
• prerequisite 
• requirement 
• urgency