Requisite

How to spell requisite

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce requisite

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does requisite mean?

1. adjectiveRequired by circumstances or for a particular purpose; necessary.
2. nounA thing that is necessary for the achievement of a particular end.

Requisite in a sentence

• adjective

  The role demands the requisite experience in project management.

• noun

  A valid passport is a basic requisite for international travel.

• adjective

  Applicants must hold the requisite qualifications before the interview.

• noun

  Patience is a quiet requisite of any long negotiation.

Where does requisite come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin requisitus, the past participle of requirere, meaning 'to seek again' or 'to ask for', which combined the prefix re- with quaerere, 'to seek, ask, or inquire'. The literal idea was something searched out and called for, and that hardened into the modern sense of something genuinely needed or demanded. English adopted it in the fifteenth century, first as an adjective for what is necessary and soon afterwards as a noun for the necessary thing itself. The same quaerere root quietly powers a large family of English words, including 'require', 'question', 'inquiry', 'quest', and 'acquire'. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle and ending: the soft -quis- and the -ite finish both reduce to a faint schwa in speech, so writers reach for -ize or -ate endings that were never there.

How the word is built

• re- (again, thoroughly)
• quis- (from Latin quaerere: to seek, ask for)
• -ite (adjective/noun suffix)