necessary

Noun · Adjective
Synonyms: necessityessentialrequirementrequisite

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

  1. anything indispensable“food and shelter are necessities of life”“the essentials of the good life”“allow farmers to buy their requirements under favorable conditions”“a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained”Synonyms: necessityessentialrequirementrequisite

Adjective (2)

  1. absolutely essential
  2. unavoidably determined by prior circumstances“the necessary consequences of one's actions”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Necessary \Nec"es*sa*ry\, a. [L. necessarius, from necesse unavoidable, necessary; of uncertain origin: cf. F. n['e]cessaire.]

1.Such as must be; impossible to be otherwise; not to be avoided; inevitable. [1913 Webster]

Death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

2.Impossible to be otherwise, or to be dispensed with, without preventing the attainment of a desired result; indispensable; requisite; essential. "'T is necessary he should die." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

A certain kind of temper is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of our minds.— Tillotson.[1913 Webster]

3.Acting from necessity or compulsion; involuntary; -- opposed to free; as, whether man is a necessary or a free agent is a question much discussed. [1913 Webster]

Necessary \Nec"es*sa*ry\, n.; pl. Necessaries.

1.A thing that is necessary or indispensable to some purpose; something that one can not do without; a requisite; an essential; -- used chiefly in the plural; as, the necessaries of life. [1913 Webster]

2.A privy; a water-closet. [1913 Webster]

3.pl. (Law) Such things, in respect to infants, lunatics, and married women, as are requisite for support suitable to station. [1913 Webster]

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