different between needful vs exigent

English

Alternative forms

• nedefull, needfull

Etymology

From Middle English needeful, nedeful, from Old English n?odful (“necessary; earnest; zealous”). Equivalent to need +? -ful. Cognate with Dutch noodvol, German notvoll.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ni?df?l/
• Hyphenation: need?ful

Adjective

needful (comparative more needful, superlative most needful)

1. Needed; necessary; mandatory; requisite; indispensible.

   Antonym: needless

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 5

     So I went to keep house with him at the Why Not? and my aunt sent down my bag of clothes, and would have made over to Elzevir the pittance that my father left for my keep, but he said it was not needful, and he would have none of it.

2. (archaic) Needy; in need.
   • 1860, Union Society of Savannah, Minutes of the Union Society (page 114)

     […] where his active benevolence was ever found in cheerful co-operation for the cause of the humble & needful orphan […]

Derived terms

• needfully
• needfulness

Noun

needful (plural needfuls)

1. (slang) Ready money; wherewithal.
2. (India, chiefly archaic in other dialects) Anything necessary or requisite.

Usage notes

Commonly found in phrases such as "kindly do the needful", which occurs commonly in Indian English but is held as archaic in other dialects. Global interactions between English speakers have to some extent led to these phrases being seen as stereotypical of Indian English and parodied by speakers of other dialects.

Derived terms

• do the needful

Anagrams

• Neufeld

English

Etymology

From Latin exig?ns, present active participle of exig? (“demand, require”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /??k.s?.d??nt/, /???.z?.d??nt/

Adjective

exigent (comparative more exigent, superlative most exigent)

1. Urgent; pressing; needing immediate action.
   • 2003, Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations, U.S. Department of Defence

     Article 2 also provides that acts of torture cannot be justified on the grounds of exigent circumstances, such as state of war or public emergency, or on orders from a superior officer or public authority.

2. Demanding; requiring great effort.

Derived terms

Related terms

• exigence
• exigency
• exigenter

Translations

Noun

exigent (plural exigents)

1. (archaic) Extremity; end; limit; pressing urgency.
2. (archaic) The amount that is required.
3. (obsolete, Britain, law) A writ in proceedings before outlawry.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Abbott to this entry?)

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin exig?ns, present active participle of exig? (“demand, require”).

Adjective

exigent (masculine and feminine plural exigents)

1. exigent, demanding

Related terms

• exigència
• exigir

Further reading

• “exigent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “exigent” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “exigent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “exigent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Verb

exigent

1. third-person plural present indicative of exiger
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of exiger

Latin

Verb

exigent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of exig?

Romanian

Etymology

From French exigeant, from Latin exigens.

Adjective

exigent m or n (feminine singular exigent?, masculine plural exigen?i, feminine and neuter plural exigente)

1. demanding

Declension