Require

Require

Verb · /rɪˈkwaɪər/ · to need something as a necessity; to make something compulsory by rule, law, or authority

Definition

To require is to make something necessary — either by need or by rule. If a job requires five years of experience, that experience is not optional. If a plant requires sunlight, it cannot survive without it. Require is stronger than request and softer than command. It states a condition: without this, the outcome is impossible, illegal, or unacceptable. In everyday speech, it is the word we use when something must happen, not just when we would like it to.

Origin

From Old French requerre and Latin requirere — to seek again, to need. The root combines re- (again, thoroughly) and quaerere (to seek). By the 14th century in English, require had settled into its modern meaning: to make a thing necessary. The distinction between request (politely ask) and require (make necessary) was already clearly understood in medieval legal and administrative writing.