different between require vs compel

English

Etymology

From Old French requerre (French: requérir), from Vulgar Latin *requærere, from Latin requ?r? (“I require, seek, ask for”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???kwa??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???kwa??/
• Rhymes: -a??(?)
• Hyphenation: re?quire

Verb

require (third-person singular simple present requires, present participle requiring, simple past and past participle required)

1. (obsolete) To ask (someone) for something; to request. [14^th-17^thc.]

   • I requyre yow lete vs be sworne to gyders that neuer none of vs shalle after this day haue adoo with other, and there with alle syre Tristram and sire Lamorak sware that neuer none of hem shold fyghte ageynst other nor for wele, nor for woo.

   • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Mark V:

     I requyre the in the name of god, that thou torment me nott.

2. To demand, to insist upon (having); to call for authoritatively. [from 14^thc.]
   • 1998, Joan Wolf, The Gamble, Warner Books:

     "I am Miss Newbury," I announced, "and I require to be shown to my room immediately, if you please."

   • 2009, Vikram Dodd, The Guardian, 29 December:

     ‘Regrettably, I have concluded, after considering the matter over Christmas […], that I can no longer maintain the high standard of service I require of myself, meet the demands of office and cope with the pressures of public life, without my health deteriorating further.’

3. Naturally to demand (something) as indispensable; to need, to call for as necessary. [from 15^thc.]
   • 1972, "Aid for Aching Heads", Time, 5 June:

     Chronic pain is occasionally a sign of a very serious problem, like brain tumors, and can require surgery.

   • 2009, Julian Borger, The Guardian, 7 February:

     A weapon small enough to put on a missile would require uranium enriched to more than 90% U-235.

4. To demand of (someone) to do something. [from 18^thc.]
   • 1970, "Compulsory Midi", Time, 29 June:

     After Aug 3 all salesgirls will be required to wear only one style of skirt while on duty: the midi.

   • 2007, Allegra Stratton, "Smith to ban non-EU unskilled immigrants from working in UK", The Guardian, 5 December:

     The government would like to require non-British fiances who wish to marry a British citizen to sit an English test.

Synonyms

• call for

Related terms

• requirement
• requisite
• request

Translations

Further reading

• require in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• require in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• require at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• querier

Interlingua

Verb

require

1. present of requirer
2. imperative of requirer

Latin

Verb

requ?re

1. second-person singular present active imperative of requ?r?

English

Etymology

From Middle English compellen, borrowed from Middle French compellir, from Latin compellere, itself from com- (“together”) + pellere (“to drive”). Displaced native Middle English fordriven ("to drive out, to lead to, to compel, to force"), from Old English fordr?fan. More at fordrive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?m?p?l/
• Rhymes: -?l
• Hyphenation: com?pel

Verb

compel (third-person singular simple present compels, present participle compelling, simple past and past participle compelled)

1. (transitive, archaic, literally) To drive together, round up (Can we add an example for this sense?)
2. (transitive) To overpower; to subdue.
3. (transitive) To force, constrain or coerce.

   Logic compels the wise, while fools feel compelled by emotions.

   • 1600, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, act 5, scene 1,

     Against my will, / As Pompey was, am I compell’d to set / Upon one battle all our liberties.

   • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England

     Wolsey […] compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once.

4. (transitive) To exact, extort, (make) produce by force.
5. (obsolete) To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.

   • Easy sleep their weary limbs compell'd.

   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, Geraint and Enid

     I compel all creatures to my will.

6. (obsolete) To gather or unite in a crowd or company.

   • in one troop compell'd

7. (obsolete) To call forth; to summon.

Derived terms

Related terms

• compulsion

Translations

References

• compel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “compel” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Random House Webster’s Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.