English Reference

Word

requirement

Phoneticsre·quire·ment

US/ɹɪˈkwaɪɹmənt/

UK/ɹɪkwˈaɪəmənt/

Definitions

01a necessity or rule

B2

n. something that is needed or must be done because of a rule or law.

n. a condition or prerequisite that is mandatory by law, regulation, or necessity.

“A valid passport is a legal requirement for anyone traveling to another country.”

“The university's entry requirements include a high level of proficiency in English and a minimum of three years of relevant work experience.”

General-service

Usage

Often followed by the preposition 'for' or 'of'.

Antonyms

02technical specification

C1 · Computing

n. a specific detail about how a product or system must work.

n. a documented constraint or capability that a system, product, or service must conform to.

“The software has a minimum memory requirement of eight gigabytes to run smoothly.”

“The engineering team spent months gathering user requirements before they began the actual design phase of the new medical device.”

Technical

Usage

Commonly used in the plural ('requirements') when referring to a project scope.

Real-World Examples

“Currently in the UK, there is no legal age restriction, speed limit or safety equipment requirement for the estimated 1.2 million , external people who own private e-scooters.”
BBC News · 11 Aug 2026
“Burgas edged out capital Sofia to stage next year's contest following a "complex" evaluation, "covering all EBU requirements," BNT general director Milena Milotinova told a press conference.”
The Local · 13 Aug 2026

Etymology

From require + -ment.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Collocations

fulfil requirementgeneral requirementmeet requirementminimal requirementrequirement forsatisfy requirement

Word family

requireVerbrequirementNoun

Domains

ComputingEngineering

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/requirement

English Reference