prerequisite

Etymology

It is formed from English pre- + requisite, from the noun.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED compares the slightly earlier verb prerequire,^[2] which Etymonline records from the 1610s.^[7] The base goes back to Latin requīsītus, the past participle of requīrō (“to seek to know, ask for”).^[7] Johnson derived it from prae- and requisite.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thing required beforehand as a condition: before 1631, in John Downe's Godlie Discourse on self-denial;^[2] about 1631 in Merriam-Webster,^[4] 1633 in Barnhart.^[3] The adjective, required as a prior condition, follows in 1651, in Richard Baxter.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) entered it as an adjective, "something previously necessary", quoting Browne's Vulgar Errours.^[8] In the modern educational sense it is a course or qualification that a student must have before going on to more advanced work.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1631 – noun, a thing required as a prior condition.^[2][4]
• 1651 – adjective, required beforehand.^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something that is needed before something else can happen or be done: Fluency in Spanish is a prerequisite for the post.^[9][4][2]
2. A course or qualification a student must complete before taking more advanced studies.^[4]

Adjective

1. Required beforehand as a condition.^[9][4][2]

Related words

• corequisite
• requirement
• requisite
• require
• perquisite

Usage notes

Dictionary.com lists prerequisite with perquisite as words easily confused.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House