exigent

English

WOTD – 6 January 2010

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /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; requiring great effort.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• allocatur exigent
• exigenter

• exigently
• inexigent

Related terms

• exigence
• exigency
• exigenter

Translations

urgent; needing immediate action

• Bulgarian: неотложен (bg) (neotložen), належащ (bg) (naležašt)
• Finnish: kiireellinen (fi)
• Hungarian: sürgős (hu), égető (hu), szorongató
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: exigente (pt) m or f
• Russian: неотло́жный (ru) m (neotlóžnyj), сро́чный (ru) m (sróčnyj)
• Spanish: urgente (es)

demanding; needing great effort

• Bulgarian: взискателен (bg) (vziskatelen)
• Catalan: exigent (ca) m or f
• Finnish: vaativa (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: követelő, követelődző, igényes (hu)
• Portuguese: exigente (pt) m or f
• Spanish: exigente (es)

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

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} exigeant (fr), ^{(please verify)} urgent (fr), ^{(please verify)} pressant (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

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. (archaic) The amount that is required.

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

3. (obsolete, UK, law) A writ in proceedings before outlawry.

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

Translations

extremity

• Russian: кра́йность (ru) f (krájnostʹ)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

---

Catalan

Etymology

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

Adjective

exigent m or f (masculine and feminine plural exigents)

1. exigent, demanding

Related terms

• exigència
• exigir

Further reading

• “exigent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “exigent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “exigent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “exigent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

---

French

Verb

exigent

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

---

Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) exigent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of exigō