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   Ne·ces·si·ty

   /nəˈsesədē/

   

   noun

   • 1. the fact of being required or indispensable: "the necessity of providing parental guidance should be apparent" Similar essential requirementprerequisiteindispensable thing/itemessentialrequisitenecessaryfundamentalbasicsine qua nondesideratum
   • ▪ unavoidability: "the necessity of growing old" Similar inevitabilityunavoidabilitycertaintyinescapabilityinexorabilityineluctability
   • ▪ a state of things or circumstances enforcing a certain course: "created more by necessity than design" Similar force/pressure of circumstanceneedobligationcallexigencycrisisemergencyurgencyforce majeure
   • 2. an indispensable thing: "a good book is a necessity when traveling" Similar essential requirementprerequisiteindispensable thing/itemessentialrequisitenecessaryfundamentalbasicsine qua nondesideratum
   • 3. the principle according to which something must be so, by virtue either of logic or of natural law.
   • ▪ a condition that cannot be otherwise, or a statement asserting this.

   Word Origin late Middle English: from Old French necessite, from Latin necessitas, from necesse‘be needful’.

   Scrabble Points: 14

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