adv · name · noun · verb · 5 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
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Received-Pronunciation:/niːdz/
Received-Pronunciation:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/nidz/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -iːdz
CMU ARPABET:N IY1 D Z
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adv
Meaning 1
Either directly or indirectly preceded or followed by an auxiliary verb, often must: of necessity or need; necessarily, indispensably.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
name
Meaning 2
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
plural of need
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
third-person singular simple present indicative of need
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adverb
Meaning 5
in such a manner as could not be otherwise
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
it is necessarily so
we must needs by objective
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: inevitably, necessarily, of necessity
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English nedes (“of necessity, necessarily; inevitably, unavoidably”) [and other forms], from Old English nēdes, nīedes (“of necessity; not willingly”), from nīed + -es (suffix forming adverbs from nouns). The English word is equivalent to need + -'s (possessive marker) and hence to need + -s (suffix forming adverbs).
Variant of Nead.
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.