need: [OE] Need is a widespread Germanic noun, with relatives also in German not, Dutch nood, Swedish nöd, and Danish nød. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *nauthiz, whose non- Germanic relatives, such as Old Prussian nautin ‘necessity, distress’ and Czech nyti ‘languish’, reveal its darker past, in which the accent was on ‘distress’ and ‘straitened circumstances’ rather than just the desirability of having something (these connotations survive in German not, which means ‘misery, danger, emergency’ as well as ‘need’).
Old English nied (West Saxon), ned (Mercian) "necessity, compulsion, duty; hardship, distress; errand, business," originally "violence, force," from Proto-Germanic *nauthiz/*naudiz (cognates: Old Saxon nod, Old Norse nauðr, Old Frisian ned, Middle Dutch, Dutch nood, Old High German not, German Not, Gothic nauþs "need"), probably cognate with Old Prussian nautin "need," and perhaps with Old Church Slavonic nazda, Russian nuzda, Polish nędza "misery, distress," from PIE *nau- (1) "death, to be exhausted" (see narwhal).
The more common Old English word for "need, necessity, want" was ðearf, but they were connected via a notion of "trouble, pain," and the two formed a compound, niedðearf "need, necessity, compulsion, thing needed." Nied also might have been influenced by Old English neod "desire, longing," which often was spelled the same. Common in Old English compounds, such as niedfaru "compulsory journey," a euphemism for "death;" niedhæmed "rape," the second element being an Old English word meaning "sexual intercourse;" niedling "slave." Meaning "extreme poverty, destitution" is from c. 1200.
Old English neodian "be necessary, be required (for some purpose); require, have need of," from the same root as need (n.). Meaning "to be under obligation (to do something)" is from late 14c. Related: Needed; needing. The adjectival phrase need-to-know is attested from 1952. Dismissive phrase who needs it?, popular from c. 1960, is a translated Yiddishism.
双语例句
1. Do not wait for good things to happen to you. You need to walk towards happiness.
不要等待好事降临，你要向幸福进发。
来自金山词霸 每日一句
2. You'll need to get on the right side of Carmela.
你得讨卡梅拉的欢心。
来自柯林斯例句
3. You will need a pot of broth for poaching.
你需要一锅汤来煮。
来自柯林斯例句
4. What is right for us need not be right for others.
