request

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rɪˈkwest/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English requeste,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French requeste (“a request”),^[4][2] from Vulgar Latin *requaesita,^[4][2][3] replacing Latin requīsīta (“a thing asked for”),^[2][4] the feminine of requīsītus (“asked, demanded”), past participle of requīrere (“to seek, ask for”).^[4][2][5] The verb is from the noun, probably influenced by Middle French requester.^[2][4][3] It is related to require and requisite.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of asking, as in at one's request: about 1330 in the OED,^[6] before 1338 in Mannyng's Chronicle in Barnhart,^[2] and the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[4]

Semantic evolution

“That which one asks for” is from the late 14th century.^[4] The verb, “to ask someone to do something”, is from 1533,^[2][3] and “to ask for, ask to be allowed” from the 1560s.^[4] The older verb in this sense was require, whose original meaning request took over.^[4] In request means “in demand”.^[7] In the 15th century a request could also be a knightly quest.^[6] A request for a song on the radio, often with a message, is from 1928.^[4][6]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – the act of asking.^[6]
• late 14th century – a thing asked for.^[4]
• 1470–85 – a knightly quest (obsolete).^[6]
• 1533 – verb, to ask someone to do something.^[2][3]
• 1560s – verb, to ask for.^[4]
• 1928 – a song requested on the radio.^[4][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of asking politely for something.
2. Something asked for.
3. A piece of music asked to be played, as on the radio.

Verb

1. To ask for politely or formally.
2. To ask someone to do something.

Word family

• requester
• unrequested

Related words

• require
• requirement
• requisite
• quest
• query
• inquest

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins