necessity

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Something you must have; an essential thing.

   A warm coat is a necessity in winter.

2. 2
   noun

   The fact of being needed or unavoidable.

   I bought a new table out of necessity, as my old one had broken.

From Middle English necessite, from Old French necessite, from Latin necessitās (“unavoidableness, compulsion, exigency, necessity”), from necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”); see necessary. Doublet of Necessitas.

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