Nec"es*sa*ry, n.; pl.
Necessaries (?). 1. A thing
that is necessary or indispensable to some purpose; something that
one can not do without; a requisite; an essential; -- used chiefly in
the plural; as, the necessaries of life.
2. A privy; a water-closet.
3. pl. (Law) Such things, in
respect to infants, lunatics, and married women, as are requisite for
support suitable to station.
Nec"es*sa*ry (?), a. [L.
necessarius, from necesse unavoidable, necessary; of
uncertain origin: cf. F. nécessaire.]
1. Such as must be; impossible to be otherwise;
not to be avoided; inevitable.
Death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
Shak.
2. Impossible to be otherwise, or to be
dispensed with, without preventing the attainment of a desired
result; indispensable; requisite; essential. "'T is
necessary he should die." Shak.
A certain kind of temper is necessary to the
pleasure and quiet of our minds.
Tillotson.
3. Acting from necessity or compulsion;
involuntary; -- opposed to free; as, whether man is a
necessary or a free agent is a question much
discussed.