necessity Look up necessity at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Fr. necessité (12c.), from L. necessitatem (nom. necessitas) "compulsion, need for attention," from necesse (see necessary). To maken vertu of necessite is in Chaucer.
"Necessity is the Mother of Invention." [Richard Franck, c.1624-1708, English author and angler, "Northern Memoirs," 1658]
Related: Necessities.