require

English

Etymology

From Old French requerre (French: requérir), from Vulgar Latin *requærere, from Latin requīrō (I require, seek, ask for).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈkwaɪə/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈkwaɪɹ/
  • (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. [14th–17th c.]
  2. To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively. [from 14th c.]
    • 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, Vikram Dodd, The Guardian, 29 December:
      ‘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. [from 15th c.]
    • 1972, "Aid for Aching Heads", Time, 5 June:
      Chronic pain is occasionally a sign of a very serious problem, like brain tumors, and can require surgery.
    • 2009, Julian Borger, The Guardian, 7 February:
      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. [from 18th c.]
    • 1970, "Compulsory Midi", Time, 29 June:
      After Aug 3 all salesgirls will be required to wear only one style of skirt while on duty: the midi.
    • 2007, Allegra Stratton, "Smith to ban non-EU unskilled immigrants from working in UK", The Guardian, 5 December:
      The government would like to require non-British fiances who wish to marry a British citizen to sit an English test.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Further reading

  • require in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • require in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
  • require at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams


Interlingua

Verb

require

  1. present of requirer
  2. imperative of requirer

Latin

Verb

requīre

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of requīrō
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