necessities

Variant of necessity

noun pl. necessities

  1. the power of natural law that cannot be other than it is; natural causation; physical compulsion placed on man by nature; fate
  2. anything that is inevitable, unavoidable, etc. as a result of natural law; that which is necessary in natural sequence
    1. the compulsion or constraint of man-made circumstances, habit, custom, law, etc.; logical or moral conditions making certain actions inevitable or obligatory: faced by the necessity to earn a living
    2. what is required by this social or legal compulsion
  3. great or imperative need
  4. something that cannot be done without; necessary thing: often used in pl.
  5. the state or quality of being necessary
  6. want; poverty

Origin: ME necessite < OFr nécessité < L necessitas < necesse: see necessary

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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