requirer 
ensamples of requyrers and nat requyrers, and euer of 
fyue four hath obtayned. 
Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., II. xxxii. 
requiring (re-kwir'ing), . [Verbal n. of re- 
i/uiri;i:~\ Demand; requisition; requirement. 
If requiring fail, he will compel. 
Shale., Hen. V., ii. 4. 101. 
requisite (rek'wi-zit), a. and . [Formerly ulso 
rcquisit; = Sp. Pg. requisite = It. requisite, i'i- 
i/uixito, < L. requisites, pp. of reqitirere, seek or 
ask again: see require.] I. a. Required by the 
nature of tilings or by circumstances; neces- 
sary; so needful that it cannot be dispensed 
with; indispensable. 
It is ... reguimt that leasure be taken in pronuntiation, 
such as may make our wordes plaine & most audible and 
agreable to the eare. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 61. 
God . . . sends his Spirit of truth henceforth to dwell 
In pious hearts, an inward oracle 
To all truth requisite for men to know. 
Milton, P. R,, i. 464. 
To be witnesses of His resurrection it was requisite to 
have known our Lord intimately before His death. 
J. H. Newman, 1'arochial Sermons, i. 286. 
=SVH. Essential, etc. See necessary. 
n. n. That which is necessary; something 
essential or indispensable. 
The knave is handsome, young, and hath all those 
requisites in him that folly and green minds look after. 
Shak., Othello, ii. 1. 251. 
= Syn. Requisite, Requirement. That which is required 
by the nature of the case, or is only indirectly thought of 
as required by a person, is called a requisite; that which 
is viewed as required directly by a person or persons is 
called a requirement: thus, a certain study is in the one 
aspect a requisite and in the other a requirement for admis- 
sion to college ; we speak of the requisites to a great com- 
mander or to a successful life ; of the requirements in a 
candidate for a clerkship. Hence, generally, a requisite is 
more absolutely necessary or essential than a requirement; 
a requisite is more often material than a requirement; 
a requisite may be a possession or something that may be 
viewed as a possession, but a requirement is a thing to be 
done or learned. 
requisitely (rek'wi-zit-li), adv. So as to be 
requisite; necessarily. Boyle. 
requisiteness (rek'wi-zit-nes), . The state of 
being requisite or necessary; necessity. Boyle. 
requisition (rek-wi-zish'on), n. [< OF. requi- 
sition, F. requisition = Pr. requisicio = OSp. 
requisition = Pg. reqnisiqao = It. requisisione, 
riquisizione, < L. requisitio(n-), a searching, ex- 
amination/ requirere, pp. requisites, search for, 
require : see require and requisite.] 1. The act 
of requiring; demand; specifically, the demand 
made by one state upon another for the giving 
up of a fugitive from law ; also, an authorita- 
tive demand or official request for a supply of 
necessaries, as for a military or naval force ; a 
levying of necessaries by hostile troops from 
the people in whose country they are. 
To administer equality and justice to all, according to 
the requisition of his office. Ford, Line of Life. 
The hackney-coach stand was again put Into requisition 
for a carriage to convey this stout hero to his lodgings and 
bed. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xxvi. 
The wars of Napoleon were marked by the enormous 
requisitions which were levied upon invaded countries. 
Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, 129. 
2. In Scots law, a demand made by a creditor 
that a debt be paid or an obligation fulfilled. 
3. A written call or invitation: as, a requisition 
for a public meeting. 4. The state of being 
required or desired; request; demand. 
What we now call the alb ... was of the sacred gar- 
ments that one most in requisition. 
Ruck, Church of our Fathers, ii. 1. 
requisition (rek-wi-zish'on), r. t. [= F. requi- 
sitionner; from the noun.] 1. To make a 
requisition or demand upon: as, to requisition 
a community for the support of troops. 2. To 
demand, as for the use of an army or the pub- 
lic service; also, to get on demanding; seize. 
Twelve thousand Masons are requisitioned from the 
neighbouring country to raze Toulon from the face of the 
Earth. Carlyle, French Rev., III. v. 3. 
The night before, the youth of Haltwhistle. who had 
forcibly requisitioned the best horses they could find, start- 
ed for a secret destination. If. and Q., 7th ser., III. 345. 
3. To present a requisition or request to : as, 
to requisition a person to become a candidate for 
a seat in Parliament. [Eng.] 
requisitivet (re-kwiz'i-tiv), a. and n. [< requi- 
site + -iff.] I. a. 1. Expressing or implying 
demand. 
Hence then new modes of speaking : if we interrogate. 
'tis the interrogative mode ; if we require, 'tis therefuui- 
''<' Harris, Hermes, i. 8. 
2. Requisite. 
Two things are requisitiee, to prevent a man's being de- 
ceived. Stillingjleet, Origines Sacrse, ii. 11. (Latham.) 
5097 
II. H. One who or that which makes or ex- 
presses a requisition. 
The requisilive too appears under two distinct species, 
either as it is imperative to inferiors, or precative to su- 
periors. Harris, Hermes, i. 8. 
requisitor (re-kwiz'i-tor), n. [< ML. rcquisitor, 
a searcher, examiner, <! L. requirere, pp. requiisi- 
tus, search for, examine: see require.] One who 
makes requisition ; specifically, one empowered 
by a requisition to investigate facts. 
The property which each individual possessed should 
be at his own disposal, and not at that of any publick re- 
quisitors. 
H. if. Williams, Letters on France (ed. 1796), IV. 18. 
requisitory (re-kwiz'i-to-ri), a. [= Sp. rcqui- 
sitorio (cf. Pg. It. requisite/riot, n., a warrant re- 
quiring obedience), < ML. requisitorius, < L. re- 
quirere, pp. requisites, search for, require : see 
requisite, required] 1. Sought for; demanded. 
[Rare.] 2. Conveying a requisition or de- 
mand. 
The Duke addressed a requisitory letter to the alcaldes. 
. . . On the arrival of the requisition there was a serious 
debate. Motley, Dutch Republic, II. 305. 
requisitum (rek-wi-si'tum), n. [L., neut. of 
requisites, pp. of requirere. search for, require : 
see requisite.] That which a problem asks for. 
requitt, v. t. An obsolete form of requite. 
requit (re-kwif), n. Same as requite. 
The star that rules my luckless lot 
Has fated me the russet coat, 
And damn'd my fortune to the groat ; 
But, in requit, 
Has blest me wi' a random shot 
O' countra wit. 
Burns, To James Smith. 
requitable (re-kwl'ta-bl), a. [< requite + -able.] 
Capable of being requited. Imp. Diet. 
requital (re-kwi'tal), n. [< requite + -al.] The 
act of requiting, or that which requites ; return 
for any office, good or bad. (a) In a good sense, 
compensation ; recompense ; reward : as, the requital of 
services. 
Such courtesies are real which flow cheerfully 
Without an expectation of requital. 
Ford, Broken Heart, v. 2. 
(6) In a bad sense, retaliation or punishment. 
Remember how they mangle our Brittish names abroad ; 
what trespass were it, if wee in requitall should as much 
neglect theirs? Milton, On Def. of Humb. Remonst. 
=Syn. Remuneration, payment, retribution. Requital 
differs from the other nouns indicating reward in express- 
ing most emphatically either a full reward or a sharp re- 
taliation. In the latter sense it comes near revenge (which 
see). 
requite (re-kwif), v. t. ; pret. and pp. requited, 
ppr. requiting. [Early mod. E. also requit, with 
pret. requit; < re- + quite 1 , v., now only quit*-, ?.] 
To repay (either good or evil), (a) In a good sense, 
to recompense ; return an equivalent in good for or to ; 
reward. 
They lightly her requit (for small delight 
They had as then her long to entertalne), 
And eft them turned both againe to fight. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. iii. 47. 
I give thee thanks in part of thy deserts, 
And will with deeds requite thy gentleness. 
Shak., Tit. And., i. 1. 237. 
(b) In a bad sense, to retaliate ; return evil for evil for or 
to; punish. 
But warily he did avoide the blow, 
And with his speare requited him againe. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. v. 21. 
Pearl felt the sentiment, and requited it with the bitter- 
est hatred that can be supposed to rankle in a childish 
bosom. Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter, vi. 
(c) To return. [Bare.] 
I spent my time much in the visits of the princes, coun- 
cil of state, and great persons of the French kingdom, who 
did ever punctually requite my visits. 
Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Life (ed. Howells), p. 135. 
= Syn. Remunerate, Recompense, etc. (see indemnify), pay, 
repay, pay off. 
requite (re-kwif), [Also requit; < requite, .] 
Requital. [Rare.] 
For counsel given unto the king 
is this thy just requite? 
T. Preston, Cambyses. 
requitefult (re-kwifful), a. [< requite + -fill.] 
Ready or disposed to requite. 
Yet were you never that requiteful mistress 
That grac'd me with one favour. 
Middleton, Your Five Gallants, II. 1. 
requitelesst (re-kwif les), a. [< requite + -less.] 
1. Without return or requital. 
Why, faith, dear friend, I would not die requiteless. 
Chapman, Gentleman Usher, iii. 1. 
2. Not given in return for something else; 
free ; voluntary. 
For this His love requiteless doth approue, 
He gaue her beeing meeily of free grace, 
Before she was, or could His mercie moue. 
Davies, Microcosmos, p. 68. (Davits.) 
reredos 
requitementt (re-kwif ment), . [< requite + 
-Hii-iit.] Requital. 
The erle Douglas sore beyng greued with the losse of 
his nacion and frendes, entendyng a requitewent if it were 
possible of the same, . . . did gather a houge armye. 
Hall, Hen. IV., an. 1. 
reraget, See rearage. 
rerail (re-ral'), v. t. [< re- + rail 1 .] To re- 
place on the rails, as a derailed locomotive. 
[Recent.] 
They [interlocking bolts] are supposed to have prevented 
the rails being crowded aside, and thus to have made pos- 
sible the rerauing of the engine. Scribner'i Mag., VI. 346. 
reret. An obsolete form of rearl, rear 2 , rear 3 . 
reret, *' t- See rear*. 
re-read (re-red'), v. t. [<re-+ rcartl.] To read 
again or anew. 
rere-banquett (rer'bang"kwet), . [Early mod. 
E. rere-banket; < rere, rear 3 , + banquet.] A 
second course of sweets or desserts after dinner. 
Compare rere-supper. Palsgrave. 
He came againe another day in the after noone, and find- 
ing the king at a rere-banquet, and to haue taken the wine 
somewhat plentifully, turned back againe. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poeaie (ed. Arber), p. 288. 
rerebrace (rer'bras), n. [< ME. rerebrace, < OF. 
"rerebras, arierebras, F. arrierebras ; as rere, 
rear 9 , + brace 1 , n.] The 
armor of the upper arm 
from the shoulder to the 
elbow -joint, especially 
when it is of steel or 
leather worn over the 
sleeve of the hauberk, or 
replacing it by inclosing 
the arm in a complete 
cylinder. Also arriere- 
bras. 
Bristes the rerebrace with the 
bronde ryche. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 
[1.2566. 
rere-brake (rer'brak), n. An appurtenance of 
a mounted warrior in the fifteenth century, it 
is said to have been the cushion forming a ball, or in some 
cases a ring, used in justs to break the shock to the knight 
when forced backward upon the crupper by the lance. 
Such contrivances are known to have been used at the 
time mentioned. 
reredemaint (rer'de-man), H. [ME., < OF. rere, 
back, + de, of, + main, hand: see main 3 .] A 
back-handed stroke. 
I shall with a j-ererfemuj/TM so make them rebounde . . . 
that the beste stopper that he hath at tenyce shal not well 
stoppe without a faulte. 
Hall, Richard III., f. 11. (Hallimll.) 
reredos (rer'dos), n. [Early mod. E. reredosse, 
also rcredorse, reardorse (see rcardorse), < ME. 
"reredos, reredoos, < OF. reredos, < rere, riere, 
rear (see rear 3 ), + dos, dors, F. dos, < L. dor- 
sum, back: see dorse 1 .] 1. In arch., the back 
of a fireplace, or of an open fire-hearth, as com- 
monly used in domestic halls of medieval times 
and the Renaissance; the iron plate of ten form- 
ing the back of a fireplace in which andirons 
are used. 
Now haue we manie chimnies and yet our tenderlings 
complaine of rheumes, catarhs and poses. Then had we 
none but reredosses, and our heads did neuer ake. 
Harrison, Descrip. of Eng., ii. 22. 
The reredog, or brazier for the fire of logs, in the centre 
of the hall, continued in use [in the fifteenth century], but 
in addition to this large fireplaces were introduced into 
the walls. J. H. Parker, Domestic Arch, in Eng., ill. 
2. A screen or a decorated part of the wall 
behind an altar in a church, especially when 
, rerebrace ; i>, cubitiere ; 
c, vambrace. 
Reredos and Altar of Lichfield Cathedral, England. 
the altar does not stand free, but against the 
wall; an altarpiece. Compare altarpiece and 
retable. 
