# necessary

Pronunciation: US say "NES-uh-ser-ee" /ˈnɛsəˌsɛɹi/; UK say "NES-uh-sree" /ˈnɛsəsɹi/

## Adjective

1. Needed or indispensable, either because logic leaves no alternative or because a goal cannot otherwise be reached or a penalty avoided.
   - Simple: Needed to reach a goal, to do something, or to avoid trouble.
   - _Securing additional funding proved necessary to complete the research._
   - _It is necessary to obtain consent before processing personal data._
2. Bound to occur no matter what; unavoidable and inevitable.
   - Simple: Sure to happen and impossible to stop or avoid.
   - _He regarded the empire's fall as necessary, the certain end of a long decline._
   - _Such wear is a necessary consequence of constant friction between the parts._

## Noun

4. Something needed for life or for some purpose; now used mainly in the plural, necessaries.
   - Simple: Something you need to live or to do a job, now used mostly in the plural, necessaries.
   - _Among a soldier's necessaries were powder, shot, and a day's bread._
   - _Under contract law, a minor can usually be made to pay a fair price for necessaries such as food, clothing, and shelter._

## Noun

3. A genteel, old-fashioned word for a privy or lavatory: an outhouse or indoor toilet. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: An old, polite word for a toilet, either outside or inside the house.

## Adjective

5. Acting under compulsion rather than free will; determined and involuntary. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Done because you are forced to, not by free choice.

## Origin

Middle English necessarye came through Old French necessaire from Latin necessārius ('required, unavoidable'), formed from necesse ('unavoidable'). Its deeper origin is uncertain, but probably involves ne ('not') and cēdō ('yield, withdraw'). The old toilet sense was influenced by medieval Latin necessārium, a name for a monastery's communal toilet, commonly adjoining the monks' sleeping quarters.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/necessary (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).