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necessary

 - 3 dictionary results

nec⋅es⋅sar⋅y

  [nes-uh-ser-ee] adjective, noun, plural -sar⋅ies.
–adjective
1. being essential, indispensable, or requisite: a necessary part of the motor.
2. happening or existing by necessity: a necessary change in our plans.
3. acting or proceeding from compulsion or necessity; not free; involuntary: a necessary agent.
4. Logic.
a. (of a proposition) such that a denial of it involves a self-contradiction.
b. (of an inference or argument) such that its conclusion cannot be false if its supporting premises are true.
c. (of a condition) such that it must exist if a given event is to occur or a given thing is to exist. Compare sufficient (def. 2).
–noun
5. something necessary or requisite; necessity.
6. necessaries, Law. food, clothing, etc., required by a dependent or incompetent and varying with his or her social or economic position or that of the person upon whom he or she is dependent.
7. Chiefly New England. a privy or toilet.
Use necessary in a Sentence
Origin:
1300–50; ME necessarie < L necessārius unavoidable, inevitable, needful, equiv. to necess(e) (neut. indeclinable adj.) unavoidable, necessary + -ārius -ary

Related forms:
nec⋅es⋅sar⋅i⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. required, needed. Necessary, essential, indispensable, requisite indicate something vital for the fulfillment of a need. Necessary applies to that without which a condition cannot be fulfilled or to an inevitable consequence of certain events, conditions, etc.: Food is necessary to life. Multiplicity is a necessary result of division. Indispensable applies to something that cannot be done without or removed from the rest of a unitary condition: Food is indispensable to living things. He made himself indispensable as a companion. That which is essential forms a vitally necessary condition of something: Air is essential to red-blooded animals. It is essential to understand the matter clearly. Requisite applies to what is thought necessary to fill out, complete, or perfect something: She had all the requisite qualifications for a position. 5. requirement, requisite, essential.

Antonyms:
1. dispensable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To necessary
nec·es·sar·y   (něs'ĭ-sěr'ē)   
adj.  

  1. Absolutely essential. See Synonyms at indispensable.

  2. Needed to achieve a certain result or effect; requisite: the necessary tools.

    1. Unavoidably determined by prior conditions or circumstances; inevitable: the necessary results of overindulgence.

    2. Logically inevitable.

  4. Required by obligation, compulsion, or convention: made the necessary apologies.

n.   pl. nec·es·sar·ies
Something indispensable.

[Middle English necessarie, from Old French necessaire, from Latin necessārius, from necesse; see ked- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

necessary 
1340 (n.), c.1380 (adj.), from L. necessarius, from necesse "unavoidable, indispensable," originally "no backing away," from ne- "not" + cedere "to withdraw, go away, yield" (see cede). Necessary house "privy" is from 1609. Necessity (c.1374) is from O.Fr. necessité, from L. necessitatem (nom. necessitas) "compulsion, need for attention." Necessitate is first attested 1628.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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