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Webster 1913 Edition


Require

Re-quire′

(r?-kw?r′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Required
(-kw?rd′)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Requiring
.]
[OE.
requeren
,
requiren
, OF.
requerre
, F.
requ[GREEK]rir
; L. pref.
re-
re- +
quaerere
to ask; cf. L.
requirere
. See
Query
, and cf.
Request
,
Requisite
.]
1.
To demand; to insist upon having; to claim as by right and authority; to exact;
as, to
require
the surrender of property
.
Shall I say to Caesar
What you
require
of him?
Shakespeare
By nature did what was by law
required
.
Dryden.
2.
To demand or exact as indispensable; to need.
Just gave what life
required
, and gave no more.
Goldsmith.
The two last [biographies]
require
to be particularly noticed.
J. A. Symonds.
3.
To ask as a favor; to request.
I was ashamed to
require
of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way.
Ezra viii. 22.
Syn. – To claim; exact; enjoin; prescribe; direct; order; demand; need.

Webster 1828 Edition


Require

REQUI'RE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. requiro; re and quaero, to seek. See Query.]
1.
To demand; to ask, as of right and by authority. We require a person to do a thing, and we require a thing to be done.
Why then doth my lord require this thing? 1Chron. 21.
2.
To claim; to render necessary; as a duty or any thing indispensable; as, the law of God requires strict obedience.
3.
To ask as a favor; to request.
I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way. Ezra 8.
[In this sense, the word is rarely used.]
4.
To call to account for.
I will require my flock at their hand. Ezek. 34.
5.
To make necessary; to need; to demand.
The king's business required haste. 1Sam. 21.
6.
To avenge; to take satisfaction for. 1Sam. 20.

Definition 2024


require

require

English

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-17thc.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, Bk.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 14thc.]
    • 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 15thc.]
    • 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 18thc.]
    • 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.

Related terms

Translations


Interlingua

Verb

require

  1. present of requirer
  2. imperative of requirer

Latin

Verb

requīre

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of requīrō