What is the Latin word for necessity?

The usual Latin words for “necessity” are necessitās, necessitūdō, afferō; also iniungō, cōgō, adigō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“necessity” in Latin

necessitāsnecessity, need, unavoidableness, compulsion, exigency; fate, destiny, inevitability; necessities, necessary things or e necessitūdōnecessity, need; distress; relationship, friendship, bond, intimacy; relatives, friends, family, kindred, connections afferōto carry forth; to bring forth; conduct; to bring, bear, convey or carry information, report, announce, inform, publish,iniungōto join or fasten, unite; to charge, impose (a burden); to enjoin or charge cōgōto collect, assemble, gather together; to restrict or confine in space; to force, compel, urge, encourage, finagle adigōto drive; to hurl; to exact

The English word necessity itself goes back to Latin cēdō, through necessitās.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

necessity

State of being necessary, necessitas (Cic.); necessitudo (of moral or abstract necessity; Sall. uses this word to denote “force of circumstances;” Vid: Herzog, ad Sall., Cat., 17, 2, and ad Caes., B.C., 1, 8): hypothetical necessity, necessitudo cum adjunctione (opposed to necessitudo simplex, Cic., Inv., 2, 57, 172): unavoidable necessity, necessitas fatalis; fati necessitas (Cic.): to impose the necessity, place anybody under the necessity, in necessitatem imponere, afferre (Cic.); injungere (Hirt.); cogere, adigere, compellere aliquem (Cic.); aliquem in eam necessitatem adducere ut (Liv.): you have placed me under the sad necessity, vos me invitum, nolentem, coëgistis, or eo compulistis: to make a virtue of necessity, facere de necessitate virtutem (Hier., in Ruf., 3, n. 2; Ep. 54, n. 6): I see no necessity, non video, non invenio, aliquid cogat, eo compellat: to see, show, the necessity of, videre, ostendere, aliter fieri, evenire, non potuisse: Peripatetici perturbari animos necesse esse dicunt (maintain the necessity of the passions, Cic.): from necessity, necessitate coactus (Cic.); necessario, necessaria re coactus (only in Caes., ; Vid: Held. ad Caes., B.C., 1, 40); also coactus only (Cic.): ex necessitate (Tac.): to yield to necessity, neeessitati parere, servire: without any necessity, nulla necessitate premente (Cic.); nulla re cogente; sine necessitate; sine justa or idonea causa: in case of necessity, si opus fuerit; si usus fuerit; si quando usus sit; si res postularit; necessitate cogente (after Cic.): only in an extreme case of necessity, non nisi summa necessitate cogente, nisi summa necessitas urgeat: necessity is the mother of invention, ingeniosa rerum egestas (Claudius).

Poverty, Vid: POVERTY.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for necessity?: The usual Latin words for “necessity” are necessitās, necessitūdō, afferō; also iniungō, cōgō, adigō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.