necessario

Forms

necessāriō (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is the ablative of necessārius (“necessary”) used as an adverb.^[1][2] De Vaan lists ⟨necessārius⟩ and ⟨necesse⟩ among the derivatives of cēdō (“to yield, go away”), from Proto-Italic *kesde/o- (“to go away, avoid”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱyesdʰ- (“to drive away”), cognate with Sanskrit सेधति (sedhati, “drives away”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is Cato's advice not to handle wine “unless of necessity”.^[1] Köbler gives Terence.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is “of necessity, without option”, as in Cato, and “inevitably, as a necessary consequence”, as Terence's “then, compelled, they inevitably reveal themselves”.^[1] It occurs in the Bible.^[2]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato of necessity.^[1][2]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of inevitable consequence.^[1][2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Of necessity, unavoidably.^[1]
2. Inevitably, necessarily.^[1]

Related words

• necessārius
• necesse
• necessitās

Usage notes

Wiktionary treats it as a variant of the rarer necessāriē.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org