NECESSITY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Necessity

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/nəsˈɛsəti/ /nəsˈɛsɪti/ Listen

noun

Necessity n. (pl. necessities)

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." "The extreme poverty and necessity his majesty was in."

3.

That which is necessary; a necessary; a requisite; something indispensable; often in the plural. "These should be hours for necessities, Not for delights." "What was once to me Mere matter of the fancy, now has grown The vast necessity of heart and life."

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."

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.

Synonyms: See Need.

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Etymology of 'Necessity'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Necessity" Quotes from Famous Books

... 'You can't see the necessity of this haste!' exclaimed Rust, in a voice of thunder. 'Ruin your prospects! What has become of her prospects? What—what—— But no matter,' added he, choking down a fierce burst of passion, and suddenly assuming a tone ...

— The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, May 1844 - Volume 23, Number 5 • Various

... with frank relief, and the others murmured agreement. Then he turned to Agatha: "I'd like you to understand that we took the line we did because it seemed the only plan. Now, however, there's no necessity for ...

— The Lure of the North • Harold Bindloss

... lest before their seu'rall tymes: And also if the Gou'rnor and the gretest p'rte of the Magestrats see cause vppon any spetiall occation to call a generall Courte, they may giue order to the secretary soe to doe w'thin fowerteene dayes warneing; and if vrgent necessity so require, vppon a shorter notice, giueing sufficient grownds for yt to the deputyes when they meete, or els be questioned for the same; And if the Gou'rnor and Mayor p'rte of Magestrats shall ether neglect or refuse to call the two Generall standing ...

— Civil Government in the United States Considered with - Some Reference to Its Origins • John Fiske

... will surely be, Does only, first, effects in causes see, And finds, but does not make, necessity. Creation is of power and will the effect, Foreknowledge only of his intellect. His prescience makes not, but supposes things; Infers necessity to be, not brings. Thus thou art not constrained to good or ill; Causes, which work the effect, force ...

— The Works of John Dryden, Volume 5 (of 18) - Amboyna; The state of Innocence; Aureng-Zebe; All for Love • John Dryden

... Cap'n Tom. Not to-night, after all we've done to them. They've got out spies now—I know them; a lot of negroes calling themselves Union League, but secretly waylaying, burning and killing all who differ with them in politics. They've made the Klu-Klux a necessity. Now, I don't want you to turn me into ...

— The Bishop of Cottontown - A Story of the Southern Cotton Mills • John Trotwood Moore

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