Nec"es*sa*ry , n.;
pl. Necessaries (&?;). 1. A thing that
is necessary or indispensable to some purpose; something that one can
not do without; a requisite; an essential; -- used chiefly
in the plural; as, the necessaries of life.
2. A privy; a water-closet.
3. pl. (Law) Such things, in respect to infants, lunatics, and married women, as are
requisite for support suitable to station.
Nec"es*sa*ry (?), a. [L. necessarius, from
necesse unavoidable, necessary; of uncertain origin: cf. F. nécessaire.]
1. Such as
must be; impossible to be otherwise; not to be
avoided; inevitable.
Death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will
come.
Shak.
2. Impossible to be otherwise, or to be dispensed with, without preventing the attainment of a desired result; indispensable;
requisite; essential. "'T is necessary he should die." Shak.
A certain kind of temper is necessary to the pleasure and quiet of
our minds.
Tillotson.
3. Acting from necessity or compulsion; involuntary; -- opposed to
free; as, whether man is a necessary or a free agent
is a question much
discussed.
Hear it pronounced