A need is something essential to an individual’s well-being, such as food, water or shelter. Having these basic needs satisfied ensures that individuals can survive and function properly in society. The concept of need is central to the theory of poverty and the human condition.
The academic study of need reached its zenith in the 1950s and 1960s, though the subject remains important today. The most prominent academic model is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which posits that humans must satisfy their lower order biological or physiological needs (e.g., food and water) before the higher order psychological needs of belonging and self-esteem can be fulfilled.
During the process of creating a budget, it’s important to separate the items that are necessary from those that are not. This can be challenging, because some things may fit into both categories. For example, you need to stay hydrated to live, but what kind of drink you need can vary on a daily or even hourly basis. Fortunately, there are some tricks you can use to help distinguish between needs and wants.
Another way to think about the difference between need and want is by examining the purpose of an item. For instance, if you want to buy a new sweater, the item can either provide warmth or serve as a status symbol. Depending on your personal values, one of these choices might be more important to you than the other. The goal is to find an item that satisfies your values while providing a functional benefit.
The word need can be derived from several root words, including the Old English nede (“to desire strongly”), the Middle English nesit (“to want urgently”) and the Latin nescessitatem (“to be necessary”). It is also closely related to other nouns like requirement, want and necessity. Need is often used as a synonym for want or necessity, but it is more effective in conveying the emotional context of these words.
Plural countable nouns need an article when referring to all the objects in existence, while uncountable nouns do not require an article if they refer to only one object in particular. However, certain uncountable nouns in English have the form of a possessive pronoun, which requires an article in most cases. These nouns include “yours”, “mine” and “ours.”
Need is a common surname. As of 2010, it was ranked 69579 in the United States Census Bureau’s list of surnames with at least 100 occurrences. The name is more common among males than females.
The term need is also a verb, meaning “to have the necessity of.” As a noun, it means the absence of something essential to survival or function; want; requirement; obligation; urge. It is also a part of the language’s informal slang, especially in the United States. Need has become so widespread that it is now included in many dictionary databases. The same is not true for the formal word requirement, which only appears in some legal documents.