require

[ri-kwahyuh r] /rɪˈkwaɪər/

verb (used with object), required, requiring.

to have need of; need:

He requires medical care.

to call on authoritatively; order or enjoin to do something:

to require an agent to account for money spent.

to ask for authoritatively or imperatively; demand.

to impose need or occasion for; make necessary or indispensable:

The work required infinite patience.

to call for or exact as obligatory; ordain:

The law requires annual income-tax returns.

to place under an obligation or necessity:

The situation requires me to take immediate action.

Chiefly British. to desire; wish to have:

Will you require tea at four o'clock?

verb (used without object), required, requiring.

to demand; impose obligation:

to do as the law requires.

Origin

1300-50; Middle English requiren < Latin requīrere, equivalent to re- re- + -quīrere, combining form of quaerere to seek, search for (cf. quest)

Related forms

requirable, adjective

requirer, noun

nonrequirable, adjective

prerequire, verb (used with object), prerequired, prerequiring.

quasi-required, adjective

unrequired, adjective

Synonyms

1. See lack. 3. See demand. 6. obligate, necessitate.

Antonyms

3. forgo.

Examples from the web for required

With scorching temperatures rising into triple digits, players are also required to take water breaks.
The fertility rate required in a country to keep its population steady.
They can't be scaled up, because more energy is required to produce the energy than can be generated.
Getting natural light into the room required going up through the attic to create a skylight.
Not all of the following technologies were flops, but every single one required a brazen leap of faith.
Most workshops require advanced registration required.
Initial trials indicate that the drug is safe for people, although much more study is required.
Both appliances toasted the bread well but required pressure to compact the sandwiches evenly.
The law required phone companies to make their networks easier to wiretap.
Converting pro-resilin into a rubbery solid required forming molecular cross-links between the spiral peptide strands.

British Dictionary definitions for required

require

/rɪˈkwaɪə/

verb (mainly transitive; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)

to have need of; depend upon; want

to impose as a necessity; make necessary: this work requires precision

(also intransitive) to make formal request (for); insist upon or demand, esp as an obligation

to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; order or command: to require someone to account for his actions

Derived Forms

requirable, adjective
requirer, noun

Usage note

The use of require to as in I require to see the manager or you require to complete a special form is thought by many people to be incorrect: I need to see the manager; you are required to complete a special form

Word Origin

C14: from Old French requerre, from Vulgar Latin requaerere (unattested) to seek after, from Latin requīrere to seek to know, but also influenced by quaerere to seek

Word Origin and History for required

adj.

c.1600, past participle adjective from require (v.). Required reading attested from 1881.

require

late 14c., "to ask a question, inquire," from Old French requerre "seek, procure; beg, ask, petition; demand," from Vulgar Latin *requaerere, from Latin requirere "seek to know, ask," from re-, here perhaps meaning "repeatedly" (see re-), + quaerere "ask, seek" (see query (v.)).

The original sense of this word has been taken over by request (v.). Sense of "demand (someone) to do (something)" is from 1751, via the notion of "to ask for imperatively, or as a right" (late 14c.). Related: Required; requiring.