require

English

Etymology

From Old French requerre (French: requérir), from Latin requīrō (“I require, seek, ask for”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈkwaɪə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈkwaɪɹ/
• (Canada, idle-idol split) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈkwʌɪɹ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: re‧quire

Verb

require (third-person singular simple present requires, present participle requiring, simple past and past participle required)

1. (obsolete) To ask (someone) for something; to request.
   • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XI, by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur , London: David Nutt, , 1889, →OCLC:

     I requyre yow lete vs be sworne to gyders that neuer none of vs shalle after this day haue adoo with other, and there with alle syre Tristram and sire Lamorak sware that neuer none of hem shold fyghte ageynst other nor for wele, nor for woo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt  (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark:

     I requyre the in the name of god, that thou torment me nott.

2. To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively.
   • 1998, Joan Wolf, The Gamble, Warner Books:

     "I am Miss Newbury," I announced, "and I require to be shown to my room immediately, if you please."

   • 2009 December 29, Vikram Dodd, The Guardian:

     ‘Regrettably, I have concluded, after considering the matter over Christmas […], that I can no longer maintain the high standard of service I require of myself, meet the demands of office and cope with the pressures of public life, without my health deteriorating further.’

3. Naturally to demand (something) as indispensable; to need, to call for as necessary.
   • 1972 June 5, “Aid for Aching Heads”, in Time:

     Chronic pain is occasionally a sign of a very serious problem, like brain tumors, and can require surgery.

   • 2009 February 7, Julian Borger, The Guardian:

     A weapon small enough to put on a missile would require uranium enriched to more than 90% U-235.

4. To demand of (someone) to do something.
   • 1970 June 29, “Compulsory Midi”, in Time:

     After Aug 3 all salesgirls will be required to wear only one style of skirt while on duty: the midi.

   • 2007 December 5, Allegra Stratton, “Smith to ban non-EU unskilled immigrants from working in UK”, in The Guardian:

     The government would like to require non-British fiances who wish to marry a British citizen to sit an English test.

Synonyms

• call for

Derived terms

Related terms

• requirement
• requisite
• request

Translations

Further reading

• “require”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “require”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “require”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• querier

Galician

Verb

require

1. inflection of requirir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Interlingua

Verb

require

1. present of requirer
2. imperative of requirer

Latin

Verb

requīre

1. second-person singular present active imperative of requīrō