requisition
noun
Requisition — the formal demand for goods or property, often for official use
Definition
Seizing property that belongs to someone else and holding it until profits pay the demand for which it was seized
In depth
Requisition, like sequestration, names the seizing of property belonging to someone else, particularly common in military and governmental contexts describing the formal demand for goods, supplies, or services, often during wartime or emergency, with the expectation of eventual compensation. The word also carries a broader, everyday sense of a formal written request for supplies within an organization.
Origin
The word descends from Latin requisitio, an inquiry or demand, from requirere, to seek again or require, formed from re- (again) and quaerere (to seek). That root sense of seeking or demanding remains active in both the word's military and everyday organizational uses, requisition conceived as a formal, often urgent demand for something needed.
Usage examples
"Military requisition of local supplies during the campaign left many communities struggling with severe shortages."
"She filed the standard requisition form for new office equipment, expecting the usual lengthy approval process."
"Wartime requisition of private vehicles became a common, if deeply unpopular, practice across much of the country."
How to use it
Requisition spans both the more dramatic, often involuntary military or governmental sense and a far more mundane organizational sense, a formal internal request for supplies, with context easily distinguishing the two quite different registers.
Related concepts
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