richiedere

Forms

richiedere or richiédere (first-person singular present richièdo or richiédo, first-person singular past historic richièsi or richiési, past participle richièsto or richiésto, auxiliary avére)^[1] Old Italian also had richerere and richierere, the forms with two *r*, and richedere.^[2][3][4] An old past participle richesto stood beside richiesto.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *requaerere (“to seek again; to ask for”), the popular form of classical Latin requīrō (“to seek; to ask; to require”).^{[5][3][6][4][1]} The Vulgar Latin verb remade the compound on the simple verb quaerō (“to seek, to ask”), with the prefix re-.^[3][7][8] DELI puts it differently: the Italian verb is chiedere with the intensive prefix ri-, formed on the model of the Vulgar Latin verb.^[9] Nocentini also treats it as a derivative of the simple Italian verb and only compares the Latin one.^[10]

In the old forms with two *r* (see Forms), the second *r* became *d* by dissimilation.^[1][2] The same Latin verb gave Old Occitan requerre, Spanish requerir and Portuguese requerer, and northern Italian dialects had requerir.^[11][12]

The Latin simple verb has no certain etymology.^[13] De Vaan prefers Nussbaum's analysis as a present built on a root Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”), which he compares with Ancient Greek πέπαμαι (pépāmai, “to have acquired”).^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, before 1292 in Bono Giamboni's Vizi e virtù, has the sense “to ask again”.^[9][5] By the end of the 13th century the Novellino uses it for asking firmly or insistently in order to obtain something.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the verb spread to asking in order to know (Dante, 1300–1313), asking for something back (Domenico Cavalca, before 1342) and demanding or requiring (Boccaccio, 1348–1353).^[9] Dante has both richiedere and the older richerere.^[9] Old senses now lost include summoning a person, challenging someone to battle and citing someone before a court.^[4][6][7]

In bureaucratic Italian the verb came to mean applying for a document, a sense the dictionaries record from 1959.^[9][6] Its noun richiesta follows the same path: Giamboni and the Novellino have richesta, Boccaccio richiesta, and in 1891 it is first recorded as the formal application for a document.^[9] The present participle richiedente, an applicant, is recorded from before 1704.^[9]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses richiedere for “to ask again”.^[9][5]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses it for asking insistently.^[9]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for asking in order to know.^[9]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for asking something back.^[9]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “to demand, require”, and has the noun richiesta.^[9]
• Before 1704 – Richiedente is recorded.^[9]
• 1959 – The bureaucratic sense “to apply for a document” is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ask for again: Ho dovuto richiedere il conto due volte.^[5][6][4]
2. To ask for something back: Gli ho richiesto la bicicletta che gli avevo prestato.^[5][6][7]
3. To request, to ask for something in order to get it, or to ask in order to know.^[5][6][3]
4. (bureaucratic) To apply for a document: Domani vado a richiedere il certificato di residenza.^[6][4][7]
5. To demand, to insist on what one is owed.^[3][8][4]
6. To require, to need: Questa ricetta richiede molta pazienza.^[6][7][5]
7. To look for in order to buy, mostly in the passive: un modello molto richiesto, a much sought-after model.^[5][7][6]
8. (obsolete) To summon before a court.^[5][6][8]

Word family

• richiedente
• richiesta
• richieditore
• richiesto

Related words

• chiedere
• requisire
• Latin requīrō
• Latin quaerō

Usage notes

Richiedere is conjugated like chiedere (richiedo, richiesi, richiesto).^[6][3][1] Wiktionary gives both an open and a closed stressed e (richièdo, richiédo).^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 837
3. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
13. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill