necessity

From Middle English necessite, from Old French necessite, from Latin necessitās (“unavoidableness, compulsion, exigency, necessity”), from necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”); see necessary.

• IPA^(key): /nɪˈsɛsəti/

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• Hyphenation: ne‧ces‧si‧ty

necessity (countable and uncountable, plural necessities)

1. The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.

   I bought a new table out of necessity. My old one was ruined.

   • 1985 December 7, Kim Westheimer, quoting Carol Brill, “Toy Dolls, Fake Dukakis 'Hear' Foster Testimony”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 21, page 1:

     Educating the public about some of the myths that underlie their fears that non-traditional families will of necessity be detrimental to the well-being of foster children.

   • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

     Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […]  But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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?)
6. (law) Greater utilitarian good; used in justification of a criminal act.

   doctrine of necessity

7. (law, in the plural) Indispensable requirements (of life).

• (state of being necessary): inevitability, needfulness, certainty
• (requisite): requirement

• (antonym(s) of “state of being necessary”): impossibility, contingency
• (antonym(s) of “something indispensable”): luxury

• “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.

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