necessary

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Needed in order to do or achieve something.

   It is necessary to book your tickets in advance.

2. 2
   adj

   Certain to happen as a result of something; unavoidable.

   Job losses were a necessary consequence of the cuts.

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.

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