need

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A requirement for something; something needed.
2. (countable, uncountable) Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.

Verb

1. (transitive) To have an absolute requirement for.
2. (transitive) To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.
3. (modal) To be obliged or required (to do something).
4. (intransitive) To be required; to be necessary.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To be necessary (to someone).

Synonyms

want

necessity

require

requirement

demand

lack

poverty

desire

indigence

must

necessary

necessitate

wish

take

distress

shortage

destitution

request

penury

use

like

exigency

have to

miss

ask

neediness

deficiency

needs

involve

call for

call

crave

urge

shortness

urgency

requisiteness

deprivation

postulate

scarcity

occasion

hardship

demands

ought

motive

pauperism

misery

craving

importance

employ

emergency

Translations

besoin

necesitar

necesidad

brauchen

Bedürfnis

avoir besoin de

benötigen

bisogno

precisar

nécessité

necessitare

Bedarf

nodig hebben

necessità

Pronounced as (IPA)

/niːd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: need

Inherited from Old English: nīed

Inherited from Old English: nēod

Inherited from Middle English: neden

Inherited from Old English: nēodian

In summary

From Middle English need, nede, a merger of two terms:
* Old English nīed (West Saxon), nēd (Mercian), nēad (“necessity, compulsion, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *naudi, from Proto-Germanic *naudiz, from Proto-Indo-European *neh₂w- (“death”).
* Old English nēod (“desire, longing”), from Proto-West Germanic *niudi (“desire, eagerness”), from Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to incline, tend, move, push, nod, wave”).

Sentences

" What is it that I still need to know ?" the boy asked .

Look , you really need to sort yourself out .

I need ten dollars .

Such a person may feel a constant need to " save " others .

" I need it to get to the Pyramids ," he said .

Perhaps , we could meet at the institute around noon since I have a few things I need to attend to first .