require

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɹɪˈkwʌɪə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə(r)

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.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, La Morte Darthur, Ch. XI:

     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.

   • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Mark V:

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

2. To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively. [from 14th c.]
   • 1998, Joan Wolf, The Gamble, Warner Books 1998:

     "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 Dec 09:

     ‘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 Jun 1972:

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

   • 2009, Julian Borger, The Guardian, 7 Feb 09:

     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 Jun 1970:

     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 Dec 07:

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

Related terms

• requirement
• requisite
• request

Translations

obsolete: to ask (someone) for something

to demand, call for authoritatively

• Czech: žádat (cs), požadovat (cs), vyžadovat (cs)
• Finnish: vaatia (fi)
• French: exiger (fr)

• Japanese: 要求する (ja) (ようきゅうする, yōkyū suru)
• Portuguese: exigir (pt)
• Vietnamese: yêu cầu (vi)

to need

• Czech: žádat (cs), vyžadovat (cs)
• Finnish: vaatia (fi)
• French: demander (fr), avoir besoin (fr) de
• German: brauchen (de)
• Greek: χρειάζομαι (el) (chreiázomai) 

• Interlingua: requirer (ia)
• Japanese: 必要とする (ja) (ひつようとする, hitsuyō to suru), 要る (ja) (いる, iru)
• Spanish: requerir (es), necesitar (es)
• Turkish: gerektirmek (tr), gereksinmek (tr)

to demand of (someone)

• Finnish: vaatia (fi), edellyttää (fi)
• French: exiger (fr) de, prier (fr)

• Japanese: 要求する (ja) (ようきゅうする, yōkyū suru)

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

• Armenian: պահանջել (hy) (pahanǰel) 
• Mandarin: 需要、要求
• Dutch: vereisen (nl)

• German: benötigen (1, 2)

External links

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

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Interlingua

Verb

require

1. present of requirer
2. imperative of requirer

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Latin

Verb

requīre

1. second-person singular present active imperative of requīrō