needful

Etymology

From Middle English needeful, nedeful, from Old English nēodful (“necessary; earnest; zealous”). Equivalent to need + -ful. Cognate with Dutch noodvol, German notvoll.

adj

1. Needed; necessary; mandatory; requisite; indispensable.
   And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That in every Town in the Colony, where Bread is Baken for Sale, there ſhall be Choſen one Clerk of the Market, or more, as each Town ſhall find needful, at their Annual Election of Town Officers, who ſhall duly be Engaged, to the faithful performance of ſaid Office, as other Town Officers are ;[…] 1719, “An ACT, Stating the due Aſſize of Bread”, in The Charter Granted by His Majeſty, King Charles the Second, to the Colony of Rhode-Iſland, and Providence-plantations in America, John Allen, page 59
2. (archaic) Needy; in need.
   […] where his active benevolence was ever found in cheerful co-operation for the cause of the humble & needful orphan […] 1860, Union Society of Savannah, Minutes of the Union Society, page 114

noun

1. (slang) Ready money; wherewithal.
2. (India, chiefly archaic in other dialects) Anything necessary or requisite.