exigent

English

WOTD – 6 January 2010    

Etymology

From Latin exigēns, present active participle of exigō (“demand, require”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈɛk.sɪ.dʒənt/, /ˈɛɡ.zɪ.dʒənt/

Adjective

exigent (comparative more exigent, superlative most exigent)

1. Urgent; needing immediate action.
   • 2003, Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations, U.S. Department of Defence

     Article 2 also provides that acts of torture cannot be justified on the grounds of exigent circumstances, such as state of war or public emergency, or on orders from a superior officer or public authority.

2. Demanding; needing great effort.

Related terms

• exigence
• exigency
• exigently

Derived terms

• allocatur exigent

Translations

urgent; needing immediate action

• Bulgarian: неотложен (bg) (neotložen), належащ (bg) (naležašt)
• Finnish: kiireellinen (fi)
• Hungarian: sürgős (hu), égető (hu), szorongató (hu)

• Portuguese: exigente (pt) m and f
• Russian: неотложный (ru) (neotlóznyj) m, срочный (ru) (sróčnyj) m
• Spanish: urgente (es)

demanding; needing great effort

• Bulgarian: взискателен (bg) (vziskatelen)
• Catalan: exigent (ca) m and f
• Finnish: vaativa (fi)

• Hungarian: követelő (hu), követelődző (hu), igényes (hu)
• Portuguese: exigente (pt) m and f
• Spanish: exigente (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: exigeant, urgent, pressant

Noun

exigent (plural exigents)

1. (archaic) Extremity; end; limit; pressing urgency
   • 1591, Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare

     These eyes, like lamps whose wasting oil is spent, \ Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent;

   • 1611, King James' Bible, Preface

     Therefore as one complaineth, that always in the Senate of Rome, [Cicero 5° de finibus.] there was one or other that called for an interpreter: so lest the Church be driven to the like exigent, it is necessary to have translations in a readiness.

2. (obsolete, UK, law) The name of a writ in proceedings before outlawry.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Abbott to this entry?)

Translations

extremity

• Russian: крайность (ru) (krájnostʼ) f

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin exigēns, present active participle of exigō (“demand, require”).

Adjective

exigent m, f (masculine and feminine plural exigents)

1. exigent

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French

Verb

exigent

1. third-person plural present indicative of exiger
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of exiger

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Latin

Verb

exigent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of exigō