English
necessary
Necessary comes from Latin necessārius ‘unavoidable, inevitable, required’, and goes back to necesse.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecesse‘unavoidable’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecessārius‘unavoidable’variant of necesse
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400necessaire
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500necessarye
- Englishearliest quotation 1599necessary
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecesse‘unavoidable’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecessārius‘unavoidable’variant of necesse
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400necessaire
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500necessarye
- Englishearliest quotation 1599necessary
Earliest quotation: 1599, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar: “Cæs. Cowards dye many times before their deaths, The…”
The story
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.
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *kezdō
succession, successor, successive, procession, inaccessible, recessive, precession, 9 more
through Latin cēdō ‘yield’
process, success, procedure, succeed, cease, accessible, excessive, excess, precedent, concede, predecessor, recession, concession, accession, recess, secession, cessation, cede, intercession, 28 more
Today it means
adj Required, essential, whether logically inescapable or needed in order to achieve a desired result or avoid some penalty.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin necesse / necessary