needsadv.
/niːdz/, U.S. /nidz/ Of necessity, necessarily, unavoidably.† I. General uses.
1. Intensifying any element within a clause. Obsolete (rare after 15th cent.).In 14th and 15th centuries frequently used with behove.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > [adverb]
needeOE
of (also for, on) needeOE
needseOE
needlingc1225
needs cost?a1300
needlingsc1300
needlya1350
of necessityc1390
needfullya1398
necessarily?a1400
needgatesa1400
needingsa1400
needwaysa1400
needslyc1425
perforcec1425
needilyc1475
needwayc1480
of (or on) force?1507
need-forcea1525
requisitely1565
of very force1587
necessitously1637
necessitively1647
par force1819
imperatively1833
necessitatedly1864
of perforce1897
eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) Introd. xiii. 30 Se ðe hine þonne nedes [lOE Rochester neades] ofsloge, oððe unwillum oððe ungewealdes.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1131 Hi scolden nedes, on fif & twenti wintre ne biden hi næfre an god dæi.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1679 (MED) No noþer nel be but nedes to wende.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 5869 (MED) Fra þat time nedis had þai Do tua iornays apon a day.
a1425 (c1333–52) L. Minot Poems (1914) 31 (MED) Schent war þo schrewes, and ailed vnsele, For at þe Neuil cros nedes bud þam knele.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 9 Perceuyng whanne an argument procedith into his conclusion needis.
c1475 tr. Henri de Mondeville Surgery (Wellcome) f. 169v (MED) Alle maner of woundis..ben not nedis deedly.
a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 2340 To pas nedis me behus.
1624 R. Montagu Gagg for New Gospell? v. 49 [We] claime and proue a succession, and therefore needes a visibilitie from the time of the Apostles.
1870 D. G. Rossetti Burden of Nineveh in Poems xv And needs were years and lustres flown Ere strength of man could vanquish thee.
II. With the modal auxiliaries †mote and must, emphasizing the sense of the verb.Now literary and poetic except in sense 4b.† 2. In loose collocation with †mote or must. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 978 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 134 (MED) Ne mot ich nedes awreke me? Ne doth he me gret schame?
c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) 986 (MED) Þe stede..fel doun ded..& when it was difallen so, Nedes a-fot he most go.
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iii. pr. xii. 106 Nedes the wordes moten ben cosynes to þo þinges of whiche þei speken.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 372 Depe draughtys of deth toke hir, that nedys she muste dye.
a1525 Bk. Chess l. 1048 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 115 Than most yair lauboure nedis fale.
1583 T. Watson Poems (1870) 60 But needes perforce I must become content To mealt in minde.
1600 C. G. Minte of Deformities sig. Aiiiv That needes his paynted picture must afloate.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 346 It must be needs a very reproveable evill which causeth such a fulsomenesse.
1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 89 Stooping down as needs he must Who cannot sit upright.
1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders I. iii. 48 Why must you needs say that about apples and gate-posts?
3. Immediately following the modal auxiliary.
ΚΠ
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 3668 So miche folk þer was y-slawe..He most nedes opon men go.
a1688 R. Cudworth Treat. Eternal & Immutable Morality (1731) iii. iv. 113 The Soul must needs have the same Passions.
1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero (1742) I. ii. 126 If every thing must needs be committed to Pompey.
1756 T. Amory Life John Buncle I. 474 It must needs be a perfect work, which the spirit of God directs.
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall II. 374 The Squire must needs have something of the old ceremonies observed on the occasion.
1908 K. Grahame Wind in Willows v. 110 His spirits finally quite restored, he must needs go and caress his possessions, and..show off their points to his visitor.
1979 A. Storr Art of Psychotherapy xi. 115 Even if we dislike the processes, we must needs excrete and eat.
4.
a. Immediately preceding the modal auxiliary.
ΚΠ
?c1335 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 35 Nedis mostou wepe.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 1043 (MED) It is so neiȝh niȝt, þat nedes mote ye parte.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 781 The weddyng..nedes most vnthryve.
1550 R. Crowley One & Thyrtye Epigrammes sig. Avv Nedes must we have places for vitayls to be solde.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 412 Needs must the Power That made us..Be infinitly good. View more context for this quotation
1859 Ld. Tennyson Lancelot & Elaine 63 in Idylls of King For so by nine years' proof we needs must learn Which is our mightiest.
a1950 E. St. V. Millay Coll. Poems (1956) 613 The rasp of a saw, the fussy cluck and bray Of hens, the wheeze of a pump, she needs must hear.
b. needs must: it is necessary or unavoidable. Cf. needs must that needs shall at shall v. 27c.Apparently originally the impersonal use of must (see must v.1 3c) with anaphoric ellipsis of the main verb; by the 19th cent. used in isolation (probably originally as a shortened form of needs must when the devil drives: see sense 5). Now frequently taken to be a plural noun and verb.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > must of necessity [verb (intransitive)]
must1372
needs must1604
havea1829
get1912
1604 E. Grimeston tr. True Hist. Siege Ostend 195 We beleeue them no more then needs must.
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia i. 36 Her vnaduised sickle shall not thrust Into her hopefull Haruest, ere needs must.
1683 J. Dryden & N. Lee Duke of Guise i. i. 2 I shou'd be glad to find the King No safer than needs must?
1734 G. Berkeley Let. in Wks. (1871) IV. 218 I shall stay no longer in Dublin than needs must.
1794 W. Godwin Caleb Williams I. vi. 112 I will lose all that I have, and go to day-labour, and my son too, if needs must.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. iv. 73 I..would have no more of these follies than needs must.
1839 W. M. Thackeray Catherine vi. 112 ‘Faith, then, needs must,’ said the ensign.
1871 R. Browning Balaustion 145 She shall go, if needs must.
a1902 F. Norris Pit (1903) ii. 51 Then needs must that Laura go with the cook to see if the range was finally and properly adjusted.
1991 B. Whitehead Dean it was that Died (BNC) 132 She sighed again. Today she would have to go back home, making out that she'd been in London staying with a friend... Well, needs must.
1998 M. Waites Little Triggers (1999) ii. 17 ‘I'm pleased you have adapted yourself to our work ethic so readily.’ Larkin shook his head. ‘Needs must.’
5. In proverbial phrases. needs must that needs shall: see shall v. 27c. †needs must he go whom the devil drives, needs must when the Devil drives, and variants; cf. drive v. Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > necessity [phrase]
none other boota1225
needs must that needs shallc1330
no remedy buta1470
needs must when the Devil drivesc1500
what remedy?1511
there is no help for it1581
(there is) nothing for it but1845
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 21 (MED) He must nedys go that the deuell dryues.
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell 1434 Nedes must he rin that the deuyll dryuith.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. (1557) 557/1 He must needes go, whom the dyuel dryueth.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage i. xv. 71 Needs must they goe whom the diuell driueth.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. iii. 29 Hee must needes goe that the diuell driues. View more context for this quotation
a1658 J. Cleveland Coachman of St. James's in Wks. (1687) 346 The Proverb, needs must go when th' Devil drives.
1711 E. Ward Life Don Quixote II. xxix. 119 Tho' I am so free to tell you, That I am really apt to value My own, above a thousand Lives, Yet needs must when the Dev'l drives.
1762 S. Foote Orators ii. 43 It is an evil spirit, I believe; and needs must when the devil drives, you know, Will.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby v. 34 Needs must..when somebody drives.
1853 T. C. Haliburton Sam Slick's Wise Saws I. xiii. 267 ‘Needs must when the devil drives, so here goes,’ and off he went for the water.
1898 J. Arch Story of Life xvi. 379 Needs must when illness drives.
1916 E. Wallace Clue of Twisted Candle (1918) xi. 133 But needs must when the devil drives, as the saying goes.
1956 G. Durrell My Family & Other Animals xiv. 189 I think we had better have a cab. An extravagance, of course, but needs must where the devil drives, eh?
1985 R. Curtis & B. Elton Blackadder II in R. Curtis et al. Blackadder: Whole Damn Dynasty (1998) 185/1 Needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle.
III. With the modal auxiliary will (would).
6.
a. With †will (in past would) in optative sense, expressing determination, fixity of purpose, or insistence. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > be resolute or determined [verb (intransitive)]
confirm1382
needsa1387
beseta1400
purposea1400
to be determined1529
to set downa1586
to set (up) one's rest1593
to stop at nothing1676
to keep one's pecker up1845
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 143 Ȝif ȝe willeþ nedes stryve, abydeth þe dome of God Almyȝty.
c1400 Life St. Anne (Minn.) (1928) 356 (MED) Þai merualyd..How þat so ȝonge a chyld wald nedys Goddes werkes haue in welde.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 616 At the laste, as every thyng hath ende, She took hire leve, and nedes wolde wende.
c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 78 The modre of this mayde..wolde nedis that this yong man schulde be dede.
1531 H. Latimer Let. Dec. in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1563) 1324/2 If my Lorde wyll needes coste and inuade my inwarde manne, wyll I, nyll I, and breake violently into my harte.
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors sig. D7v Abondance of that kinde of Exhalation is gathered together, within a cloude, whiche nedes wyl haue one waye out or other.
1578 R. Day Bk. Christian Prayers sig. Hiiijv Needs would haue..an Italian stranger, the Bishop of Rome to play Rex ouer them.
1587 J. Hooker tr. Giraldus Cambrensis Vaticinall Hist. Conquest Ireland i. i. 1/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II She became and would needs be a preie vnto the preier.
a1605 R. Bannatyne Memorials Trans. Scotl. (1836) 216 The Lady Home and vtheris wald neidis thraip in his face that he was banist the said toun.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 108 He needes will be Absolute Millaine. View more context for this quotation
1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron I. i. vii. f. 23 Hauing thus discoursed with himselfe, he would needs vnderstande of whence and what he was.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 36 I would needs..go and see the town of Wisby.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 62 The master of my hotel..will needs have it..that I should be sent to the Bastile.
1790 G. Colman Battle of Hexham ii. ii. 33 Now and then the tongue of disappointment will needs let fall some of the acid drops which misery sprinkles the heart withal.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. III. 179 Vulcan..would needs wed Venus, and our Chronicles tell us what came of it.
1890 Atlantic Monthly Apr. 527/1 Despite Hester's protest, Barent would needs go back to the stoop for her cloak.
a1912 A. Lang Poet. Wks. (1923) III. 106 Sir, you would needs have it so.
b. With would, in conditional context, expressing necessity or inevitability. rare.
ΚΠ
1651 T. Hobbes Philos. Rudim. Pref. It would needs follow, not onely that all men were wicked..but also wicked by nature.
1880 W. James Great Men & their Environment v Does he mean to say that if the aforesaid W. Shakespeare had died of cholera infantum, another mother at Stratford-upon-Avon would needs have engendered a duplicate copy of him, to restore the sociologic equilibrium?
a1956 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Compl. Poems (1993) I. 511 God himself would needs have smiled If he had ever heard such wild Nonsense from Nazareth—if not Calvary!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> as lemmas
(it) needs
a. (it) needs: it is needful or necessary. Frequently with clause as complement. In Old English also with genitive of the thing required.† (a) intransitive. With that-clause. Obsolete.† (b) intransitive. With clause understood. Obsolete.† (d) intransitive. With bare infinitive. Obsolete.
extracted from needv.2ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > be necessary [verb (intransitive)] > it is necessary
(it) needsOE
tharfc1175
(it) misters1424
it needsa1425
there needs?a1425
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) 89 On cealdum eardum neodað [OE Wells is neod], þæt þæs reafes mare sy, on hleowfæstum læs. Ðæs abbodes foresceawunge sceal beon be þysum, hu ðæs neodige.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) 250 It nedeþ þat a gyste and a beme be longe, stronge, and grete.
1464 Let. in Ld. Clermont Wks. J. Fortescue (1869) I. 27 It shalle nede that the quene gate some notable and manly prince...welle garnysshed withe habilymentes of werre.
a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 143 (MED) It nedith þat it be delibered whether the kynge mey gyve such rewarde.
c1480 (a1400) St. Matthew 211 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 196 It nedyt þat he suld mak a tempil.
a1550 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Wemyss) v. 3723 Forthy it nedis that ressoune Thyne vnreullis habandoun.
ΚΠ
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 20 Ȝe muȝen seggen hit biforen & efter vchtsong anan ȝef swa neodeð.
1408–9 in J. Slater Early Scots Texts (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Edinb.) (1952) No. 67 For to make knawyn til al men & ony alqwhar it nedis.
1473 in C. Rogers Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 166 With wynnyn and gudyn of the lands quhareuer it nedis.
1503–4 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 324 in Parl. Papers (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 The owners of all suche nettis shall repaire them when it nedith.
1512 in J. Robertson Illustr. Topogr. & Antiq. Aberdeen & Banff (1857) III. 109 To big the mylne hous..and red the dame as it nedis.
1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation i. 24 I could produce many others of them..but it needs not.
1765 H. Walpole Castle of Otranto v ‘It needs not’..‘the horrors of these days..corroborate thy evidence’.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. iv. 103 ‘I will not lift hand against him.’ ‘It needs not—send Louis Winkelman and a score of thy lances.’
1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux I. xxvi. 216 ‘You had better send one of Garnett's people,’ said the duchess... ‘It will hardly need,’ said Madame Goesler.
(c) intransitive. With to-infinitive.
ΚΠ
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 1746 It nedeth noght to pyne yow with the corde.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 6525 Hit nedeth nothyng to wond. Hit is a best founde in boke.
a1402 J. Trevisa tr. Dialogus Militem et Clericum (Harl.) 36 Ȝif any happe falliþ wherefore hit nediþ to make eny maner statute.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 35 (MED) It nedeth not to tell ȝou the names of the cytees.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 320 (MED) That mannys lawe forbedith not..the seid endewing, nedith not to proue.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) vii. 167 Of Rowlande nedeth not to speke.
a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) 2893 (MED) It nedith not to make all this arraye.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 245 (MED) Hit nedyth to vse..hote mettys and moiste, as chykenys..culueres, good Swete wyne.
1585 Abp. E. Sandys Serm. xviii. 318 To seeke out many expositions of these woordes, it shall not neede.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts xlviii. 318 It needs not to tell what she said.
1912 Eng. Rev. Sept. 284 It does not need to take everything Lord Charles Beresford says without a grain of salt.
ΚΠ
c1390 G. Chaucer Miller's Tale 3599 Thow art so wys, it nedeth [v.rr. nedyth, nededeþ] thee nat teche.
?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Harl. 6579) i. xlix. f. 34 (MED) It nediþ nouȝt renne to Rome ne to Ierusalem for to seken Hym þere.
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) 4982 Hyt nedith noght..more haue pensifnesse.
1865 W. G. Palgrave Narr. Journey through Arabia I. 112 Needs not say how lovely are the summer evenings.
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adv.eOEas lemmas