Prerequisite

How to spell prerequisite

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce prerequisite

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does prerequisite mean?

1. nounSomething that must exist or be satisfied beforehand as a necessary condition.
2. adjectiveRequired beforehand as a necessary condition for something to proceed.

Prerequisite in a sentence

• noun

  A basic accounting course is a prerequisite for the advanced module.

• adjective

  Students must complete the prerequisite reading before the seminar begins.

• noun

  Five years of clinical experience is a prerequisite for the senior post.

• adjective

  The contract lists the prerequisite approvals needed from each department.

Where does prerequisite come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word joins the Latin prefix prae-, meaning 'before' or 'in advance', to requisite, which descends from requisitus, the past participle of the Latin verb requirere, 'to seek again' and so 'to need' or 'to demand'. That verb itself was built from re-, here adding emphasis, and quaerere, 'to seek or ask', the same root that gives us 'inquire', 'query' and 'question'. Pulled together, the sense is literally 'something required beforehand', a condition that must be satisfied before something else can follow. The compound surfaced in English around the seventeenth century, first as an adjective and soon as a noun, and it became especially common in academic and administrative writing. The spelling trap is the quiet middle: writers reliably drop the 'e' between 'pre' and 'requisite' or forget that 'requisite' carries no 'c', even though the 'qu' sound tempts one in.

How the word is built

• pre- (before)
• requisite (something required, from Latin requisitus, past participle of requirere 'to need or seek')