nécessaire French · revision 16637

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1119, Philippe de Thaon, Comput|origins=la necesse}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ne.se.sɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nécessaire''' (plural nécessaires)^(Wiktionary)

+ The Académie wrote ''necessaire'' in 1694 and 1718, ''nécessaire'' from 1740.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|necessārius|t=inevitable; urgent; indispensable]], from [[m|la|necesse|t=unavoidable, necessary]], chiefly used in the impersonal phrase meaning “it is necessary”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|7, 77b) It has been proposed that the Latin adjective is formed from the negation [[m|la|ne]] and a noun derived from [[m|la|cēdō|t=to go; to give way]], the idea of necessity coming from that of being unable to move or to draw back.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Cognate with [[oc|necessari]], [[es|necesario]] and [[it|necessario]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon's ''Comput'' (1119) uses it for a thing that is absolutely needed.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a noun, ''les necessaires'' (14th century) and ''le nécessaire'' (1530, Palsgrave) were the things one needs; a 14th-century inventory uses ''necessaires'' for close-stools.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) From 1718 a ''nécessaire'' is a case holding what is needed for an activity: ''nécessaire à toilette'' (1835), later ''de toilette''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From about 1220 it also meant “that cannot not be”, and in Amyot (1554) “inevitable”, Fléchier has ''mal nécessaire'' (1676), Pascal ''être nécessaire'' in metaphysics, and d'Alembert ''vérité nécessaire'' in logic (1743).^(TLFi) Impersonal ''il est nécessaire de'' dates from 1436 and ''il est nécessaire que'' from 1495.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Of a person, it meant indispensable (about 1480), and in classical French a ''nécessaire'' was a busybody who thought himself indispensable (1655), whence ''faire le nécessaire'' “to act important”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1119 – “Absolutely needed”, Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1220 – “That cannot not be”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1436 – ''Il est nécessaire de''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – ''Le nécessaire'', Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1676 – ''Mal nécessaire'', Fléchier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – A case of necessary articles.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|necessary]], needed: ''la somme nécessaire'', ''il est nécessaire de partir, que tu partes''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Indispensable: ''nécessaire à la vie''; of a person, ''se rendre nécessaire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(logic, philosophy)'' That cannot be otherwise: ''condition nécessaire et suffisante'', ''vérité nécessaire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Inevitable: ''un mal nécessaire''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Le nécessaire'': what is needed: ''faire le nécessaire''; the necessities of life.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # A [[m|en|kit]], case: ''nécessaire de toilette'', ''nécessaire à couture''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nécessairement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nécessité]]

+ * [[nécessiter]]

+ * [[nécessiteux]]

+ * [[la|necesse]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}