# necessity
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nɪˈsɛsəti/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: ne‧ces‧si‧ty

### Noun

necessity (countable and uncountable, plural necessities)
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
    doctrine of necessity
* (law, in the plural) Indispensable requirements (of life).

#### Synonyms

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

#### Antonyms

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

#### Derived terms

* bare necessities
* daily necessities
* doctrine of necessity
* doctrine of philosophical necessity
* make a virtue of necessity
* money of necessity
* necessity is the mother of innovation
* necessity is the mother of invention
* necessity knows no law
* necessity money
* needcessity
* work of necessity

#### Related terms

* necessariness
* necessary
* necessitate
* necessitation
* necessitative
* necessitousness
* necessitude

#### Translations

    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.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “necessity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* cysteines