necessity

[nuh-ses-i-tee]

See more synonyms for necessity on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural ne·ces·si·ties.

something necessary or indispensable: food, shelter, and other necessities of life.
the fact of being necessary or indispensable; indispensability: the necessity of adequate housing.
an imperative requirement or need for something: the necessity for a quick decision.

the state or fact of being necessary or inevitable: to face the necessity of testifying in court.
an unavoidable need or compulsion to do something: not by choice but by necessity.
a state of being in financial need; poverty: a family in dire necessity.
Philosophy. the quality of following inevitably from logical, physical, or moral laws.

Idioms

of necessity, as an inevitable result; unavoidably; necessarily: Our trip to China must of necessity be postponed for a while.

Origin of necessity

1325–75; Middle English necessite < Latin necessitās, equivalent to necess(e) needful + -itās -ity

Related formsnon·ne·ces·si·ty, noun, plural non·ne·ces·si·ties.su·per·ne·ces·si·ty, noun, plural su·per·ne·ces·si·ties.

Synonyms for necessity

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3. demand. 6. neediness, indigence, want.

Synonym study

3. See need.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for of necessity

naturally, unquestionably, undoubtedly, automatically, accordingly, consequently, fundamentally, indubitably, perforce, positively, willy-nilly, axiomatically, cardinally, compulsorily, incontrovertibly, ineluctably, inescapably, inexorably, irresistibly, significantly

British Dictionary definitions for of necessity

necessity

noun plural -ties

(sometimes plural) something needed for a desired result; prerequisitenecessities of life
a condition or set of circumstances, such as physical laws or social rules, that inevitably requires a certain resultit is a matter of necessity to wear formal clothes when meeting the Queen
the state or quality of being obligatory or unavoidable
urgent requirement, as in an emergency or misfortunein time of necessity we must all work together
poverty or want
rare compulsion through laws of nature; fate
philosophy
1. a condition, principle, or conclusion that cannot be otherwise
2. the constraining force of physical determinants on all aspects of lifeCompare freedom (def. 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 worldsUsual symbol: □, ∟
of necessity inevitably; necessarily

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for of necessity

necessity

late 14c., "constraining power of circumstances," from Old French necessité "need, necessity; privation, poverty; distress, torment; obligation, duty" (12c.), from Latin necessitatem (nominative necessitas) "compulsion, need for attention, unavoidableness, destiny," from necesse (see necessary). Meaning "condition of being in need" in English is from late 15c.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention. [Richard Franck, c.1624-1708, English author and angler, "Northern Memoirs," 1658]

To maken vertu of necessite is in Chaucer. Related: Necessities.

Idioms and Phrases with of necessity

of necessity

Also, out of necessity. As an inevitable consequence, unavoidably, as in the New Testament: “Of necessity he must release one unto them at the Feast” (Luke 23:17). [Late 1300s]

necessity

In addition to the idiom beginning with necessity

necessity is the mother of invention

also see:

make a virtue of necessity
of necessity