necessary: Meaning and Definition of

nec•es•sar•y

Pronunciation: (nes'u-ser"ē), [key]
— adj., n., pl. -sar•ies.
—adj.
  1. being essential, indispensable, or requisite: a necessary part of the motor.
  2. happening or existing by necessity: a necessary change in our plans.
  3. acting or proceeding from compulsion or necessity; not free; involuntary: a necessary agent.
    1. (of a proposition) such that a denial of it involves a self-contradiction.
    2. (of an inference or argument) such that its conclusion cannot be false if its supporting premises are true.
    3. (of a condition) such that it must exist if a given event is to occur or a given thing is to exist. Cf.sufficient(def. 2).
—n.
  1. something necessary or requisite; necessity.
  2. food, clothing, etc., required by a dependent or incompetent and varying with his or her social or economic position or that of the person upon whom he or she is dependent.
  3. a privy or toilet.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also: