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Webster 1913 Edition


Exigent

Exˊi-gent

,
Adj.
[L.
exigens
,
-entis
, p. pr. of
exigere
to drive out or forth, require, exact. See
Exact
.]
Exacting or requiring immediate aid or action; pressing; critical.
“At this exigent moment.”
Burke.

Ex′i-gent

,
Noun.
1.
Exigency; pressing necessity; decisive moment.
[Obs.]
Why do you cross me in this
exigent
?
Shakespeare
2.
(o. Eng. Law)
The name of a writ in proceedings before outlawry.
Abbott.

Webster 1828 Edition


Exigent

EXI'GENT

,
Noun.
Pressing business; occasion that calls for immediate help. [Not used.] See Exigence.]
1.
In law, a writ which lies where the defendant is not to be found, or after a return of non est inventus on former writs; the exigent or exigi facias then issues, which requires the sheriff to cause the defendant to be proclaimed or exacted, in five county courts successively, to render himself; and if he does not, he is outlawed.
2.
End; extremity. [Not used.]

Definition 2024


exigent

exigent

English

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

Derived terms

Translations

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, Britain, law) The name of a writ in proceedings before outlawry.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Abbott to this entry?)

Translations


Catalan

Etymology

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

Adjective

exigent m, f (masculine and feminine plural exigents)

  1. exigent

French

Verb

exigent

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

Latin

Verb

exigent

  1. third-person plural future active indicative of exigō