Etymograph

English

need

Need comes from Middle English nede, a merger of Old English nīed, nēd ‘necessity, compulsion’ and nēod ‘desire, longing’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nede1‘need, necessity’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595need1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English need
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Famine is in thy cheeks; Need and oppression starveth…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nedeWiktionary, English need‘need, necessity’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595needWiktionary, English need. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Famine is in thy cheeks; Need and oppression starveth…”

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Another origin of need

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*new-‘to incline, push, move, nod, wave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*newdʰ-‘seeking, need’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*niudi‘desire, eagerness’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150nēod‘desire, longing’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150nēodian‘to be necessary’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neden‘to need’
  7. Englishtodayneed

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Today it means

noun A requirement for something; something needed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “need”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English nede / need