What does requital mean?
Requital is a formal noun for repayment, compensation, or recompense. It describes something given or paid in return for a benefit, a service, a kindness, or sometimes an injury. In modern English, its most recognizable use is the expression 'in requital for,' as when gratitude or compensation is offered for assistance received. The word can sound ceremonial, literary, or even legal, so it is less common in casual speech than everyday alternatives such as repayment, reward, or compensation. Requital can also appear in older or more specialized contexts where it means the act of requiring payment or restoration. Although uncommon, it is useful because it gives a concise and dignified expression to the idea of returning a benefit or making compensation, especially when the act is intended to acknowledge a substantial or lasting obligation.
nounPayment or repayment in return for a service, gift, kindness, or injury. The word is chiefly formal and literary.
- Payment or repayment for a service received, benefit conferred, kindness shown, or injury suffered.
- The act of requiring payment, return, or restoration.
"The generosity of the community was met with an equally generous requital."
"He offered his assistance without expectation of requital."
"The court awarded damages in requital for the losses sustained."
The plural is very rare; singular forms in constructions such as 'in requital' are much more usual.
"Their acts of requital were few, but each was deeply felt."
Unlike the familiar verb requite, the noun requital has a distinctly formal, almost legal air.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of requital
Requital was formed in Early Modern English from the verb requite and the noun-forming suffix -al. Requite came through Middle English from Old French requiter and is ultimately related to Latin requirere, meaning 'seek' or 'demand,' from the same Latin root that underlies English cognates such as require, request, and requisition. Over time, requite developed the distinct sense of repaying a kindness or returning a benefit, while requital became its corresponding noun.
Related word forms
How requital is actually used
Requital is rare in ordinary contemporary usage and has a formal or literary register. It is now encountered chiefly in the pattern 'in requital for' or with a direct object such as 'requital of kindness'; older legal usage could refer to demanding payment or return.
Easily confused with requital
Requital means repayment or recompense, whereas a retrial is a new trial of a legal case.