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necessary

adj
/ˈnɛs.ə.sɹi/UK/ˈnɛs.əˌsɛ.ɹi/US/ˈnɛs.ə.ɹi/

Etymology

From Middle English necessarye, from Old French necessaire, from Latin necessārius (“unavoidable, inevitable, required”), variant of necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”), probably from ne or non cessum, from the perfect passive participle of cēdō (“yield; avoid, withdraw”); see cede. Older use as a noun in reference to an outhouse or lavatory under the influence of English and Latin necessārium, a medieval term for the place for monks’ “unavoidable” business, usually located behind or attached to monastic dormitories.

  1. derived from necessārius
  2. derived from necessaire
  3. inherited from necessarye

Definitions

  1. Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a…

    Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid some penalty.

    • Although I wished to think that all was false, it was yet necessary that I, who thus thought, must in some sense exist.
    • It is absolutely necessary that you call and confirm your appointment.
    • 1.Sen. ...The faults Bloody: 'Tis necessary he should dye: Nothing imboldens sinne so much, as Mercy.

  2. Unavoidable, inevitable.

    • If it is absolutely necessary to use public computers, you should plan ahead and forward your e-mail to a temporary, disposable account.

  3. Determined, involuntary

    Determined, involuntary: acting from compulsion rather than free will.

    • But that a necessary being should give birth to a being with any amount, however limited, of moral freedom, is infinitely less conceivable than that parents of the insect or fish type should give birth to a perfect mammal.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation

      A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.

      • It soon became fashionable for even the poorest families to have a necessary not far from their cabin. […] The more affluent settlers painted their necessarys in bright colors and carved their names on the doors.

    2. Necessity.

      • […] loss of that whole dominion of New England, and consequently of their Majesties' other American Plantations, endangered not only by the want of provisions, but by the many ships, vessels, seamen and other necessarys in New England, ...

    3. A surname.

The neighborhood

Derived

equinecessary, innecessary, necessarian, necessarily, necessary condition, necessary evil, necessary room, necessary woman, nonnecessary, seminecessary, socially necessary labour time

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at necessary. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01necessary02avoid03away04discard05favour06favor07regard08detail09enough10needed

A definitional loop anchored at necessary. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at necessary

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA