Phrase guide

necessity is the mother of invention

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

The primary driving force for most new inventions is a need.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اَلْحَاجَة أَمّ اَلاِخْتِرَاع (al-ḥāja ʔumm al-iḵtirāʕ) — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Bengali: কাজ আটকালে বুদ্ধি জোগায় — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Chinese Mandarin: 需要是發明之母 /需要是发明之母 (xūyào shì fāmíng zhī mǔ) — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Czech: nouze naučila Dalibora housti — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Danish: nød lærer nøgen kvinde at spinde — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Dutch: noodzaak is de moeder van uitvinding — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Dutch: nood breekt wet — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Finnish: hätä keinot keksii — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • French: la nécessité est la mère de l'invention — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • French: nécessité fait loi — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • German: Not macht erfinderisch — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • German: Notwendigkeit ist die Mutter der Erfindung — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • German: Not bricht Eisen — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Hebrew: הכורח הוא אבי ההמצאה — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Hebrew: הצורך הוא אבי ההמצאה — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Hindi: आवश्यकता आविष्कार की जननी है (āvaśyaktā āviṣkār kī jannī hai) — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Hungarian: a szükség találékonnyá tesz — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Icelandic: neyðin kennir naktri konu að spinna — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Ingrian: kel on jano, sil on jalat — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Italian: il bisogno aguzza l'ingegno — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Japanese: 必要は発明の母 (hitsuyō-wa hatsumei-no haha) — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Norwegian: nød lærer naken kvinne å spinne — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Polish: potrzeba jest matką wynalazków — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Portuguese: a necessidade aguça o engenho — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Portuguese: a necessidade é a mãe de toda invenção — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Scottish Gaelic: nì airc innleachd — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Spanish: la necesidad agudiza el ingenio — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need
  • Swedish: nöden är uppfinningarnas moder — the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need