Require

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈkwaɪə/

Definitions

1. To necessitate having something as an essential component for a specific aim
2. To mandate that a certain condition or item is needed to proceed with a process or task
3. To insist on the presence or provision of something as indispensable for a particular purpose

Etymology: The Latin verb "requīrere" was built from "re-", meaning "back" or "again", and "quaerere", meaning "to seek", so its literal sense was something like "to seek back." That sense of searching for something one has a claim to is still visible when English speakers say that a task requires patience: the thing is being sought out as a necessity. The verb reached English through Old French "requerre", which was later replaced in French by "requérir", and the same root gave English "query" and "quest" along with it. Shared roots make the link to "query" easy to see. A query is a seeking-out of information, and a requirement is a seeking-back of something that is due or necessary. Both come from "quaerere", so the verb's modern meaning of insisting on something as indispensable grows naturally from the older idea of demanding what one must have.

Synonyms: need, demand, necessitate, call for, oblige

Antonyms: offer, provide, supply, give, dispose