# necessity

Pronunciation: say "ni-SES-uh-tee" /nɪˈsɛsəti/

## Noun

1. The fact that something is essential or that it must happen.
   - Simple: The fact that something must happen or cannot be avoided.
   - _The necessity of regular maintenance becomes obvious once a machine starts to fail._
   - _She acted out of necessity rather than personal ambition._
2. A thing that is needed or indispensable; something one cannot do without.
   - Simple: A thing that someone must have and cannot do without.
   - _A reliable car is a necessity when you live far from town._
   - _For many remote workers, a fast internet connection has become a daily necessity._
3. The basic things required to sustain life, such as food, clothing, and shelter.
   - Simple: The basic things a person needs to live, like food and shelter.
   - _The court ruled that a guardian must supply every necessity of life to a dependent child._
   - _Food, shelter, and clothing are the necessities the law expects caregivers to provide._
4. The condition of being needy; a state of desperate need or lack.
   - Simple: The state of being very poor and lacking what you need.
   - _Driven by necessity, the family sold their last few possessions._
   - _He stole the bread out of sheer necessity._
5. A force or power that makes an act or event unavoidable; an overruling compulsion.
   - Simple: A force or power that makes something happen and cannot be resisted.
   - _Bowing to necessity, the general ordered an immediate retreat._
   - _Necessity, not choice, dictated every move the company made that winter._
6. The greater good appealed to in justifying an otherwise criminal act; a defense that breaking the law prevented a more serious harm.
   - Simple: The need to break a law in order to stop something worse from happening.
   - _Her lawyers raised necessity, arguing she trespassed only to pull the child from the burning car._
   - _The plea of necessity failed because a lawful alternative had clearly been available._
7. The denial of free will; the view that all events, material or spiritual, are bound by inevitable cause and effect.
   - Simple: The idea that everything is caused by what came before, so nothing is truly free.
   - _The philosopher defended necessity, holding that every decision follows inevitably from prior causes._
   - _Critics of necessity argue that it leaves no room for genuine moral responsibility._

## Origin

This word came through Middle English "necessite" and Old French "necessite" from Latin "necessitās" (unavoidableness, compulsion, necessity), which derived from "necesse" (unavoidable, inevitable). It is a doublet of Necessitas.

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