requirement

[ri-kwahyuhr-muhnt]

noun

1. that which is required; a thing demanded or obligatory.

   One of the requirements of the job is accuracy.

2. an act or instance of requiring.

   Synonyms: claim, demand, directive, injunction, command, order

3. a need or necessity.

   to meet the requirements of daily life.

requirement

/ rɪˈkwaɪəmənt /

noun

1. something demanded or imposed as an obligation

   Latin is no longer a requirement for entry to university

2. a thing desired or needed

3. the act or an instance of requiring

Other Word Forms

• nonrequirement noun
• prerequirement noun
• superrequirement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of requirement¹

First recorded in 1520–30; require + -ment

Idioms and Phrases

see meet the requirements.

Synonym Study

Requirement, requisite refer to that which is necessary. A requirement is some quality or performance demanded of a person in accordance with certain fixed regulations: requirements for admission to college. A requisite is not imposed from outside; it is a factor which is judged necessary according to the nature of things, or to the circumstances of the case: Efficiency is a requisite for success in business. Requisite may also refer to a concrete object judged necessary: the requisites for perfect grooming.

Example Sentences

Yet Mr Tucker's idea is not entirely dissimilar to the conclusions of a recent government-commissioned study carried out by Middlesex University, which also called for legal requirements for people to have "clean" ownership records.

Read more on BBC

To satisfy the proposition’s requirements, the city had to hold public hearings and give every affected resident the opportunity to weigh in via a notice mailed to their homes before the increase could move forward.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But the state guidelines are recommendations, not requirements.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

These include new work requirements that are a cornerstone of Republican demands, under which certain adults would have to work or engage in qualifying activities to maintain Medicaid benefits.

Read more on Salon

The most notable of those is the requirement that Hamas lay down its arms.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• concern 
• condition 
• demand 
• need 
• obligation 
• precondition 
• prerequisite 
• provision 
• qualification 
• specification 
• stipulation 

When To Use

What does requirement mean?

A requirement is something that’s mandatory or necessary—it’s something you need to have or need to do.Requirement is most often used in official contexts in which achieving a certain status requires you to perform certain actions or have certain things, such as documents.Example: By passing this class you have now met all of the basic requirements for your major and will be able to walk at graduation in May.