necessitate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin necessitātus, the past participle of necessitō (“to compel, constrain; to make necessary”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin necessitās (“compulsion, need; destiny”),^[2][6][7] from necesse (“unavoidable, indispensable”).^[8][2] Etymonline explains necesse as originally "no backing away", from ne- (“not”) and cēdō (“to withdraw, yield”).^[2] The OED notes that the Medieval Latin verb is frequent in British sources from about 1277 to 1440 in the sense "to compel", and since the mid 14th century in the sense "to make necessary".^[6] Compare Middle French necessiter (14th century), Italian necessitare, Spanish necesitar and Portuguese necessitar.^[6] An earlier English verb with the same meaning was necessen, used by Chaucer.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Necessitated, obliged, as a past participle: 1533, in Thomas More's Confutation of Tyndale's Answer.^[6] The verb is recorded from 1601, both for "to make necessary" and for "to compel".^[6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the verb 1625,^[3] Etymonline and Dictionary.com the 1620s.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb entered English with two senses, compelling a person and making a thing necessary.^[6][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to make necessary; not to leave free; to exempt from choice".^[10] The sense "to make necessary, to require as a condition or result" has become the main one,^[3][11] while "to compel" is now rare and, according to the Shorter Oxford, chiefly American.^[6][12] In the mid 17th century it could also mean to reduce a person to want.^[6][12] The old participial adjective necessitate, "obliged", survived in Scotland: the OED notes that the Scottish National Dictionary recorded it in north-eastern Scotland in 1963.^[6][12]

Timeline

• 1533 – adjective, necessitated, obliged.^[6] The Shorter Oxford dates it to the late 16th century.^[12]
• 1601 – verb, to make necessary; also to compel or oblige, usually in the passive.^[6]
• 1629 – to compel to or into something (obsolete by 1888).^[6]
• 1641 – to reduce a person to want (obsolete).^[6][12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make necessary or unavoidable; to require as a condition or consequence: The storm damage necessitated a full inspection of the bridge.^[3][11][6]
2. To compel or force someone to do something, usually in the passive (now rare).^[6][11][12]
3. (obsolete, 1641–1700) To reduce someone to want or need.^[6][12]

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Forced by necessity; obliged.^[3][6][12]

Word family

• necessitation
• necessitative

Related words

• necessarily
• necessary
• necessity
• unnecessarily
• unnecessary
• necessitous

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press