requerer

Forms

requerer (first-person singular present requeiro, first-person singular preterite requeri, past participle requerido)^[1] Houaiss records requerir in 1365, rrequerer in 1392 and requerer from the 15th century, with the old form requisir in 1353.^[2] Lorenzo's chronology adds requerir in 1338, requerer in the Crónica Geral of 1344, requiro “I request” in 1357 and rrequejraaes “you may request” in 1433.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *requaerō, a Vulgar Latin form remade on quaerō (“to seek”) from classical Latin requīrō (“to seek again, look for, ask for”).^[2][4][5][6] The Latin verb is formed with the prefix re- on the verb for “to seek”.^[7][1] Wiktionary instead treats the verb as taken from the classical Latin word and adapted to the conjugation of querer, which explains present forms such as ⟨requeiro⟩ and ⟨requer⟩.^[1][8] The medieval texts have both Old Galician-Portuguese requerir and Old Galician-Portuguese requerer (see Forms).^[3]

The same Latin verb is Spanish requerir, French requérir and Italian richiedere, and it is related to the English word require.^[1] Old French had requerre, remade about 1200 after querir, and the DHLF also derives it from the Vulgar Latin form.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's date of 1200 is a Latin charter, non requiramus a uobis predictum redditum “we will not demand the aforesaid rent from you”.^[2][3] The first Portuguese record in Lorenzo's chronology is a document of 1338, nos enuyaria dizer e requerir “would send to tell and request of us”, and the Crónica Geral of 1344 has viimos a ti a te requerer que tu faças “we came to you to ask you to do”.^[3] The sense is “to ask for, demand”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Cunha dates requerimento, requeredor and requerição to the 14th century, so the legal use of the verb, “to petition an authority”, was there from the start.^[4] Morais (1813) still gives the Latin sense “to seek several times”, beside “to ask”, “to ask in court”, “to ask for a favour or office”, “to accuse in court” and requerer de amores “to court a lady”; he also has “to call for, require” (esta empreza requer muita prudência).^[10]

Modern senses are the petition and the court application, “to call for, require” (o trabalho requer paciência), “to deserve”, and “to court, woo”, which overlaps with requestar.^[2][8] Popular speech uses it for consulting the souls of the dead, and in Brazilian dialect speech it can mean “to report someone to the police”.^[2][11]

Timeline

• 1200 – requiramus in a Latin charter.^[3]
• 1338 – first Portuguese record, requerir.^[3]
• 1344 – requerer in the Crónica Geral.^[3]
• 14th century – first records of requerimento and requeredor.^[4]
• 1538 – Requerer in a private letter.^[12]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it as Latin requiro.^[13]
• 1634 – first record of requerente.^[4]
• 1734 – Feijó gives the present requeiro, requéres, requer.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais lists the legal and the amorous senses.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To apply for something by a formal requerimento, to petition an authority: Ela requereu a reforma no ano passado.^[2][8][1]
2. (transitive, law) To ask for in court: requerer o divórcio.^[2][15]
3. (transitive) To call for, require, need: Este bolo requer muitos ovos.^[2][6][1]
4. (transitive) To ask for the presence or help of: requerer reforços.^[2][8]
5. (transitive) To deserve, merit.^[2][16]
6. (transitive) To court, woo; to requestar.^[2][17]
7. (transitive, popular) To consult the souls of the dead.^[2][16]
8. (intransitive) To make a petition.^[2][8] (law) to file an application: Os candidatos têm um prazo de dez dias para requerer.^[2][8]

Word family

• requerimento
• requerente
• requeredor

Related words

• requestar
• requisição
• querer
• Latin requīrō
• Spanish requerir

Usage notes

The verb is irregular only in the present: requeiro, requer (without final -e) and the subjunctive requeira; unlike querer, its preterite is regular (requeri, requereu).^[8][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. requerer
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. requerir
4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. requerer
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. requerer
6. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. requerer
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. requiro
8. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. requerer
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. requérir
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 607
11. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. requerer
12. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. requerer
13. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. requerer
14. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. requerer
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. requerer
16. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8022
17. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. requerer