Etymologically
Log in

requiro

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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