requiro

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [rɛˈkʷiː.roː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [reˈkʷiː.ro]^[1]

Forms

requīrō (present infinitive requīrere, perfect active requīsīvī or requīsiī, supine requīsītum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from re- and quaerō “to seek, ask”.^[2][1][3] A variant ⟨requae-⟩ occurs in a manuscript of the Old Latin Sirach.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of looking for something.^[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to look for, seek a person, thing or place, as Plautus' vestīgium hīc requīrō “I'm looking for a footprint here” and Caesar's search for Varus.^[2][5][6] From Cicero it meant to ask about, inquire, demand, to seek to obtain, to expect to find, to need or call for, and to miss, feel the loss of.^[2] Döderlein explains that requīrere is missing something as an act of the understanding, with a view to its use, dēsīderāre as an act of feeling.^[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to need, require, seek, ask after, demand.^[8] Vulgar Latin *requaerere gave Old French requerre, the source of English require in the late 14th century, first “to ask a question”.^[9]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of looking for.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of searching.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of asking, needing and missing.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English require is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To look for, seek.^[2]
2. To ask about, inquire; to demand.^[2]
3. To seek to obtain; to expect to find.^[2]
4. To need; of things, to call for, require.^[2]
5. To miss, feel the loss of.^[2]

Word family

• irrequisitus
• requīritō
• requīsītiō

Related words

• quaerō
• dēsīderō
• English require
• English request

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com