necessity
Other forms: necessities
A good camping knife is a necessity if you’re going to be hiking in a heavily forested region. A necessity is something that you must have in order to complete a task.
When used in the plural, necessities are items required for a situation but nothing extra. You probably only bring the bare necessities to a sleepover — pajamas and a toothbrush. Sometimes a necessity is a thing you must know how to do. Knowing how to balance your checkbook is a financial necessity. In some cases, necessity simply means "need." Do you do your homework out of necessity or because you want to?
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the condition of being essential or indispensabletypes:requisitenessthe state of being absolutely requiredurgencythe state of being urgent; an earnest and insistent necessity
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anything indispensable“food and shelter are necessities of life”synonyms: essential, necessary, requirement, requisitetype of:thinga separate and self-contained entity
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Vocabulary lists containing necessity
The full title of this declaration includes a focus on citizenship, and it was published two years after the declaration of rights for men and immediately after the National Assembly of France rejected a proposal to extend the rights to women. With an ironic tone, the writer and activist Olympe de Gouges dedicated it to Marie Antoinette, who -- as a woman -- was not seen as an equal. And, as a queen, she did nothing to promote gender equality (yet she was eventually given a trial and death sentence equal to that of King Louis XVI). While a postscript and form for a social contract are also included, the main structure and contents of this declaration parallel and parody its male counterpart. Compare these lists to hear the echoes. E-text available here. Here are links to our lists on rights: The Declaration of Independence, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Declaration of the Rights of Woman, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Whether you're an ingenious inventor or you just geek out on gadgets, here are some useful words to describe the process of innovation. Check out the related article from our Department of Word Lists: The Innovative Language of Invention