English
require
Require comes from Old French requerre ‘to ask’, from Latin requīrō ‘to seek, ask for’, from re- + quaerō ‘to seek’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō‘to seek’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErequīrō‘to seek, ask for’literally ‘to seek back’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400requerre‘to ask’
- Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485require
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō‘to seek’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErequīrō‘to seek, ask for’literally ‘to seek back’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400requerre‘to ask’
- Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485require
Earliest quotation: 1470–1485, Capitulum XI: “I requyre yow lete vs be sworne to gyders…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’
rescue, reverse, rely, reminiscent, remark, reciprocal, revoke, repellent, reciprocate, refrigerate, repulse, rappel, regurgitate, 16 more
Today it means
verb To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin quaerō / require