Etymology

needs

N1E1E1D2S1

Today it means: Either directly or indirectly preceded or followed by an auxiliary verb, often must: of necessity or need; necessarily, indispensably. Full definition →

Middle English nedes ← Old English nīedes ← Proto-West Germanic *naudi
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needs · adverb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*neh₂w-
  2. Proto-Germanic*naudiz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*naudi
  4. Old Englishnīed
  5. Old Englishnīedes
  6. Middle Englishnedes
  7. English todayneeds

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).

needs · noun2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

needs · verb3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Needs · proper noun4

Variant of Nead.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.