necessary
/ˈnɛs.əˌsɛ.ɹi/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.91 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid some penalty.
adj
noun
A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.
Archaic
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "Although I wished to think that all was false, it was yet necessary that I, who thus thought, must in some sense exist."
- "It is absolutely necessary that you call and confirm your appointment."
- "1.Sen. ...The faults Bloody: 'Tis necessary he should dye: Nothing imboldens sinne so much, as Mercy."
- "If it is absolutely necessary to use public computers, you should plan ahead and forward your e-mail to a temporary, disposable account."
- "Cæs. Cowards dye many times before their deaths, The valiant neuer taste of death but once: Of all the Wonders that I yet haue heard, It seemes to me most strange that men should feare, Seeing that death, a necessary end Will come, when it will come."
- "But that a necessary being should give birth to a being with any amount, however limited, of moral freedom, is infinitely less conceivable than that parents of the insect or fish type should give birth to a perfect mammal."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: necessarye, necessaire, necessārius
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈnɛs.əˌsɛ.ɹi/
- British English: /ˈnɛs.ə.sɹi/
Usage
Inflected Forms
necessarier (comparative)
more necessary (comparative)
necessariest (superlative)
most necessary (superlative)
necessaries (plural)
necessarys (plural)