Definition of NECESSITY

necessity

Plural: necessities

Noun

  • the condition of being essential or indispensable
  • anything indispensable
  • The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.
  • The condition of being needy; desperate need; lack.
  • Something necessary; a requisite; something indispensable.
  • Something which makes an act or an event unavoidable; an irresistible force; overruling power.
  • The negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism.
  • Greater utilitarian good; used in justification of a criminal act.
  • Indispensable requirements (of life).

Examples

  • A tent is a necessity if you plan on camping.
  • After eating a full meal, the human body's necessity for food will compel the person to eat again in the future.
  • doctrine of necessity
  • I bought a new table out of necessity. My old one was ruined.

Origin / Etymology

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

Scrabble Score: 14

necessity: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
necessity: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
necessity: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

necessity: valid Words With Friends Word