Etymologically
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request

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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
  • 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