necessities

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Variant of necessity

necessity definition

ne·ces·sity (-tē)

noun pl. necessities -·ties

  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
  4. great or imperative need
  5. something that cannot be done without; necessary thing: often used in pl.
  6. the state or quality of being necessary
  7. want; poverty

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

necessity Idioms

of necessity

necessarily; inevitably

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

necessities quotes

It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed† Great necessities call out great virtues.

-Adams, Abigail

Science is triumphant with far-ranging success, but its triumph is somehow clouded by growing difficulties in providing for the simple necessities of human life on earth.

-Commoner, Barry

In the affluent society, no useful distinction can be made between luxuries and necessities.

-Galbraith,John Kenneth

necessities quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"necessities." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/necessities>

APA Style

necessities. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/necessities

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