necessity
nounEtymology
From Middle English necessite, from Old French necessite, from Latin necessitās (“unavoidableness, compulsion, exigency, necessity”), from necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”); see necessary. Doublet of Necessitas.
Definitions
The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.
- I bought a new table out of necessity. My old one was ruined.
- 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.
The condition of being needy
The condition of being needy; desperate need; lack.
- 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.
Something necessary
Something necessary; a requisite; something indispensable.
- A tent is a necessity if you plan on camping.
- Look for the bare necessities / The simple bare necessities / Forget about your worries and your strife
- Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer
Something which makes an act or an event unavoidable
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.
- 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 negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism.
Greater utilitarian good
Greater utilitarian good; used in justification of a criminal act.
- doctrine of necessity
Indispensable requirements (of life).
The neighborhood
- antonymimpossibilityantonym(s) of “state of being necessary”
- antonymcontingencyantonym(s) of “state of being necessary”
- antonymluxuryantonym(s) of “something indispensable”
- neighbornecessariness
- neighbornecessary
- neighbornecessitate
- neighbornecessitation
- neighbornecessitative
- neighbornecessitousness
- neighbornecessitude
Derived
bare necessities, daily necessities, doctrine of necessity, doctrine of philosophical necessity, make a virtue of necessity, money of necessity, necessitarian, necessitied, necessitous, necessity is the mother of innovation, necessity is the mother of invention, necessity knows no law, necessity money, needcessity, nonnecessity, unnecessity, work of necessity
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at necessity. 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.
A definitional loop anchored at necessity. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
9 hops · closes at necessity
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