necessitate

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin necessitātus, past participle of necessitō (“to make necessary”), from Classical Latin necessitās (“necessity, need”) + -ō. Necessitās is derived from necesse (“unavoidable”) (from ne- (“prefix meaning ‘not’”) + cessus (“conceded, given up, yielded”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /nɪˈsɛsɪteɪt/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /nəˈsɛsəˌteɪt/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ne‧ces‧sit‧ate

Verb

necessitate (third-person singular simple present necessitates, present participle necessitating, simple past and past participle necessitated)

1. (transitive) To make necessary; to behove; to require (something) to be brought about.

   The early departure of her plane necessitated her waking up at 4 a.m.

   • 1645, Daniel Cawdrey [i.e., Daniel Cawdry], Herbert Palmer, “Solemne Worship is Morall Naturall; both Solitary, and Conjoyned, in Families, and Churches; and How Farre”, in Sabbatum Redivivum: Or The Christian Sabbath Vindicated; , first part, London: Printed by Robert White, for Thomas Underhill, , →OCLC, page 75:

     And this to be a duty, […] ſpeciall that of loving God with all thy heart, &c. beſides manifold more in Scripture; But even the Law of Nature neceſſitates to it, whether we conſider God, or our ſelves, our ſoules, ſpecially.

   • 1672, Theophilus Gale, “Of Aristotelic or Peripatetic Philosophie, and Its Traduction from the Jews”, in The Covrt of the Gentiles: or A Discourse Touching the Original of Human Literature, both Philologie and Philosophie, from the Scriptures & Jewish Church. , 2nd revised and enlarged edition, part I (Of Philologie), Oxford: Printed by H. Hall, for Tho Gilbert, →OCLC, book IV (Of Peripatetic, Cynic, Stoic, Sceptic, and Epicurean Philosophie), page 464:

     [T]here is a twofold Neceſſitie, one contrary to Libertie, another conſiſtent therewith. Wherefore externe Neceſſitie deſtroyes Libertie (for no one externally compelled, is ſaid to do, or not to do any thing freely) but al interne Neceſſitie neceſſitating to act according to their own nature, this doth the more preſerve Libertie.

   • 1815 (date written), [Thomas Love Peacock], chapter XIV, in Headlong Hall, London: for T Hookham, Jun. and Co. , published 1816, →OCLC, page 200:

     The application of the poker necessitated the ignition of the powder: the ignition necessitated the explosion: the explosion necessitated my sudden fright, which necessitated my sudden jump, which from a necessity equally powerful was in a curvilinear ascent: […]

   • 1927, R W Sexton, “Introducing Individuality in the Plan”, in Interior Architecture: The Design of Interiors of Modern American Homes, New York, N.Y.: Architectural Book Publishing Co., Paul Wenzel and Maurice Krakow , →OCLC, page 31:

     These ideas, as I have said, have to be interpreted and expressed in correct architectural language, that is the architect's problem, and a big enough one it is, and although this may necessitate slight changes in some of the owner's original ideas, the general character of the plan, as eventually worked out by "T" square and triangle, will be the embodiment of the owner's personality.

   • 1951 June, John L. Buckland, “The Semmering Line and its Traffic”, in Railway Magazine, page 414:

     Repair of the many tunnels and high masonry viaducts on the eastern side of Semmering, appears to have necessitated this single-line working, although complete rerailing with long welded rails and resleepering and reballasting are being undertaken.

   • 1962 July, “Beyond the Channel: Switzerland: Increasing Swiss Federal route capacities”, in Modern Railways, page 58:

     The main obstacles to increasing traffic, in fact, are the heavy gradients and sharp curves on the approaches to the Gotthard Tunnel. Wear-and-tear of the track necessitates frequent attention by the civil engineers and possessions are hard to obtain without reducing the throughput of trains.

   • 2012, Jacquelyn Cranney, Helen Dalton, “Optimizing Adaptive Student Behaviors”, in James E. Groccia, Mohammed A. T. Alsudairi, William Buskit, editors, Handbook of College and University Teaching: A Global Perspective, Thousand Oaks, Calif., London: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, part III (Understanding Students), page 63:

     The possibility that students and graduates will need to study and work across cultural boundaries, necessitating the need for cultural awareness and competency[.]

2. (of circumstances) To force into a certain course of action; compel.
   • 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 37:

     The 26th of August was still colder than the day previous. Ice formed in all our water-vessels, and one was necessitated to the brisker kind of exercise in order to keep warm.

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• necessary (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “necessitate”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “necessitate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Interlingua

Noun

necessitate

1. necessity
2. need

See also

• besonio

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

necessitate

1. inflection of necessitare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

necessitate f pl

1. feminine plural of necessitato

Latin

Noun

necessitāte

1. ablative singular of necessitās