What does requiring mean?
Requiring is the present participle of require and is used most often as a verb: it states that a person or thing needs something, or that a rule or circumstance makes an action necessary. A construction such as “The policy is requiring...” is direct but can sound formal; in everyday speech, “The policy requires...” or “You will need to...” often sounds more natural. Requiring can also serve as a participial adjective, as in “The role is physically requiring,” though “demanding” is usually more idiomatic. The word is neutral in tone, but when used of authority or obligation it may imply firmness or legal compulsion. Its history is revealing: require comes through Old French from Latin requirere, “to seek out,” ultimately from quaerere, “to seek.” Thus, what begins as a requirement or demand carries the older idea of seeking something out and asking for it. Requiring is especially useful when the subject is an event, policy, or circumstance rather than a person: something is not merely advisable but necessary under the stated conditions.
To need or make necessary, or to demand or oblige someone to do something.
"The new rule is requiring applicants to provide proof of address."
The form combines the present-participle and passive-construction functions typical of verbs ending in -ing.
Needing effort, skill, care, or attention; demanding.
"The role is physically requiring."
This use is less common than the verbal form and is often replaced by the more idiomatic adjective “demanding.”
Requiring comes from the Latin quaerere, “to seek,” so a requirement literally began as someone seeking or asking for something.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does requiring come from?
Requiring is the present participle of require. The English verb require came through Old French from Latin requirere, meaning “to seek out” or “ask for,” which was formed from the Latin root quaerere, “to seek.” Related English words include request, inquire, acquire, and quest, all of which continue the same root through Latin and Old French.
Related word forms
How requiring is actually used
Requiring is formal to neutral in tone. “Needing” is often more conversational, while “requires” is usually more idiomatic when the subject is a rule, policy, or circumstance. The participial-adjective use is less common and often interchangeable with “demanding.”
Easily confused with requiring
Acquiring means obtaining or learning something, whereas requiring means needing or demanding it.