Necessity

Necessity

Noun · /nɪˈses.ɪ.ti/

Definition

The state or fact of being required; a necessary thing; an indispensable requirement; a condition that cannot be avoided; (in philosophy) the property of being necessarily true or necessarily the case.

Origin

From Old French necessité and Latin necessitas (necessity, compulsion, need, want), from necesse (necessary). The Latin necessitas being used both for physical need or want (the body's necessities: food, warmth) and for logical or metaphysical necessity (the necessary truths). Entering English in the 14th century. The phrase necessity is the mother of invention being attributed to Plato (though the precise quotation is not found in his extant works) and being one of the most widely cited proverbs about creativity under constraint.