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necessity - 5 dictionary results
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ne⋅ces⋅si⋅ty

  [nuh-ses-i-tee]
Use necessity in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ties.
1. something necessary or indispensable: food, shelter, and other necessities of life.
2. the fact of being necessary or indispensable; indispensability: the necessity of adequate housing.
3. an imperative requirement or need for something: the necessity for a quick decision.
4. the state or fact of being necessary or inevitable: to face the necessity of testifying in court.
5. an unavoidable need or compulsion to do something: not by choice but by necessity.
6. a state of being in financial need; poverty: a family in dire necessity.
7. Philosophy. the quality of following inevitably from logical, physical, or moral laws.
—Idiom
8. of necessity, as an inevitable result; unavoidably; necessarily: Our trip to China must of necessity be postponed for a while.
Origin:
1325–75; ME necessite < L necessitās, equiv. to necess(e) needful + -itās -ity

Synonyms:
3. demand. See need. 6. neediness, indigence, want.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ne·ces·si·ty   (nə-sěs'ĭ-tē)   
n.   pl. ne·ces·si·ties
    1. The condition or quality of being necessary.
    2. Something necessary: The necessities of life include food, clothing, and shelter.
    3. Something dictated by invariable physical laws.
    4. The force exerted by circumstance.
    1. Something dictated by invariable physical laws.
    2. The force exerted by circumstance.
  3. The state or fact of being in need.
  4. Pressing or urgent need, especially that arising from poverty.

[Middle English necessite, from Old French, from Latin necessitās, from necesse, necessary; see necessary.]
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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Necessity

Ne*ces"si*ty\, n.; pl. Necessities. [OE. necessite, F. n['e]cessit['e], L. necessitas, fr. necesse. See Necessary.]

1. The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite; inevitableness; indispensableness.

2. The condition of being needy or necessitous; pressing need; indigence; want.

Urge the necessity and state of times. --Shak.

The extreme poverty and necessity his majesty was in. --Clarendon.

3. That which is necessary; a necessary; a requisite; something indispensable; -- often in the plural.

These should be hours for necessities, Not for delights. --Shak.

What was once to me Mere matter of the fancy, now has grown The vast necessity of heart and life. --Tennyson.

4. That which makes an act or an event unavoidable; irresistible force; overruling power; compulsion, physical or moral; fate; fatality.

So spake the fiend, and with necessity, The tyrant's plea, excused his devilish deeds. --Milton.

5. (Metaph.) The negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism.

Of necessity, by necessary consequence; by compulsion, or irresistible power; perforce.

Syn: See Need.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : necessity
Spanish: necesidad,
German: die Notwendigkeit,
Japanese: 必要
More Translations »

Main Entry: ne·ces·si·ty
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ties
1 a : the presence or pressure of circumstances that justify or compel a certain course of action; especially : a need to respond or react to a dangerous situation by committing a criminal act b : an affirmative defense originating in common law that the defendant had to commit a criminal act because of the pressure of a situation that threatened a harm greater than that resulting from the act —see also choice of evils defense at DEFENSE 2a —compare DURESS, UNDUE INFLUENCE
2 : something that is necessary esp. to subsistence necessities of food, clothing, and shelter>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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necessity

In addition to the idiom beginning with necessity, also see make a virtue of necessity; of necessity.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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