Necessary Definition

nĕsĭ-sĕrē
necessaries, necessariest
adjective
necessariest
That cannot be dispensed with; essential; indispensable.
The nutriments necessary to life.
Webster's New World
Needed or required.
A contract complete with the necessary signatures; conditions necessary to life.
American Heritage
Unavoidably determined by prior conditions or circumstances; inevitable.
The necessary results of overindulgence.
American Heritage
Resulting from necessity; inevitable.
A necessary result.
Webster's New World
That must be done; mandatory; not voluntary.
Webster's New World
noun
Something indispensable.
American Heritage
A necessary thing; thing essential to life, some purpose, etc.
Webster's New World
A privy or toilet.
Webster's New World
Those things essential to maintaining a dependent or incompetent in comfort and well-being.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Necessary

Adjective

Base Form:
necessary
Superlative:
necessariest

Origin of Necessary

  • From Middle English necessarye, from Old French necessaire, from Latin necessārius (“unavoidable, inevitable, indispensable, requisite"), from necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable, indispensable"), neuter adjective with esse and habeō (“I have"), probably originating from ne cessum or non cessum, from ne (“not") + cessus, perfect passive participle of cÄ“dō (“I yield"); see cede.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English necessarie from Old French necessaire from Latin necessārius from necesse ked- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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