necessary

Meaning

Adj

1. Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid some penalty.
2. Unavoidable, inevitable.
3. (obsolete) Determined, involuntary: acting from compulsion rather than free will.

Noun

1. (Maine, UK, archaic, euphemistic, usually) A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.
2. (obsolete) Necessity.

Opposite of

unnecessary, evitable, incidental, impossible

Synonyms

essential

indispensable

needed

required

requisite

inevitable

needful

important

vital

need

unavoidable

imperative

inescapable

obligatory

urgent

‼️

must

necessity

compulsory

appropriate

𐑌𐐯𐑅𐐯𐑅𐐯𐑉𐐨

valuable

crucial

have to

want

right

ineluctable

be urgent

cherished

require

requirement

substantial

substantive

sufficient

sure

touch

typical

urge

useful

wanted

weighty

welfare

gram. imperative

be important

be necessary

must-have

should be

necessarily following

be imperative

be needful

undispensable

Translations

nécessaire

necesario

notwendig

necessario

nodig

nötig

ضروري

necessário

gerekli

noodzakelijk

necessari

erforderlich

occorrente

indispensable

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈnɛsəsɹi/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: necessarye

Cognate with Latin: necessārium

In summary

From Middle English necessarye, from Old French necessaire, from Latin necessārius (“unavoidable, inevitable, required”), variant of necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”), probably from ne or non cessum, from the perfect passive participle of cēdō (“yield; avoid, withdraw”); see cede.
Older use as a noun in reference to an outhouse or lavatory under the influence of English and Latin necessārium, a medieval term for the place for monks’ “unavoidable” business, usually located behind or attached to monastic dormitories.