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PlainSpell

require

re·quire/ɹɪˈkwaɪɹ/verb

require is spelled R-E-Q-U-I-R-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (re·quire). It appears 60 times per million words in written English, the 1,724th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, require means “To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in require?

Letters7: R-E-Q-U-I-R-E
Syllables2: re·quire
In writing60 times per million words; the 1,724th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is require?

Require appears 60 times per million words in written English, the 1,724th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce require?

  • UK /ɹɪˈkwaɪə/
  • US /ɹɪˈkwaɪɹ/
  • /ɹɪˈkwʌɪɹ/

Require has 2 syllables, split re·quire in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-require.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-require.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with require?

11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as require from its last stressed vowel (/aɪɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of require

  • requires present, singular, he/she/it
  • requiring participle, present
  • required participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does require mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively.

  2. 2

    Naturally to demand (something) as indispensable; to need, to call for as necessary.

  3. 3

    To demand (of someone) to do something.

    It is required (of me) that I give evidence in court.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo ask (someone) for something; to request; to beseech.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate require?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of require: req..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Require in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchexiger (to demand, call for authoritatively), demander, avoir besoin de, requérir, nécessiter (to need), exiger de (to demand of (someone))
Germanerfordern (to demand, call for authoritatively), brauchen, benötigen (to need)
Portugueseexigir, requerer (to demand, call for authoritatively), precisar de, necessitar (to need)
Spanishrequerir, precisar (de) (to need)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does require come from?

From Old French requerre (whence Modern French requérir), from Latin requīrō (“to require, seek, ask for”, literally “to seek back”), from re- (“back; again”) + quaerō (“to seek”, whence query).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after require