Definition of necessity Necessity

/nʌsɛˈsʌti/ - [nusesutee] - ne•ces•si•ty

We found 21 definitions of necessity from 8 different sources.

What does necessity mean?

Noun Plural: necessities
necessity - 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"
		essential, requirement, requisite, necessary
		inessential, nonessential anything that is not essential; "they discarded all their inessentials"
		thing a separate and self-contained entity
		desideratum something desired as a necessity; "the desiderata for a vacation are time and money"
		must grape juice before or during fermentation
necessity - the condition of being essential or indispensable
		need, demand anything that is necessary but lacking; "he had sufficient means to meet his simple needs"; "I tried to supply his wants"
		requisiteness the state of being absolutely required

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necessity (Noun)
The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite.
necessity (Noun)
The condition of being needy or necessitous; pressing need; indigence; want.
necessity (Noun)
That which is necessary; a requisite; something indispensable.
necessity (Noun)
That which makes an act or an event unavoidable; irresistible force; overruling power; compulsion, physical or moral; fate; fatality.
necessity (Noun)
The negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism.
necessity (Noun)
Greater utilitarian good; used in justification of a criminal act.
necessity (Noun)
Indispensable requirements of life.

necessity (n.)
The quality or state of being necessary, unavoidable, or absolutely requisite; inevitableness; indispensableness.
necessity (n.)
The condition of being needy or necessitous; pressing need; indigence; want.
necessity (n.)
That which is necessary; a necessary; a requisite; something indispensable; -- often in the plural.
necessity (n.)
That which makes an act or an event unavoidable; irresistible force; overruling power; compulsion, physical or moral; fate; fatality.
necessity (n.)
The negation of freedom in voluntary action; the subjection of all phenomena, whether material or spiritual, to inevitable causation; necessitarianism.

necessity
ne-ses′i-ti, n. state or quality of being necessary: that which is necessary or unavoidable: compulsion: great need: poverty.—ns. Necessitā′rian; Necessitā′rianism, necessarianism.—v.t. Necess′itāte, to make necessary: to render unavoidable: to compel.—n. Necessitā′tion.—adjs. Necess′itied (Shak.), in a state of want; Necess′itous, in necessity: very poor: destitute.—adv. Necess′itously.—n. Necess′itousness.—Natural necessity, the condition of being necessary according to the laws of nature; Logical or Mathematical, according to those of human intelligence; Moral, according to those of moral law; Works of necessity, work so necessary as to be allowable on the Sabbath. [L. necessitas.]

necessity
If a ship be compelled by necessity to change the order of the places to which she is insured, this is not deemed deviation, and the underwriters are still liable.