Old English ascian "ask, call for an answer; make a request," from earlier ahsian, from Proto-Germanic *aiskojanan (source also of Old Saxon escon, Old Frisian askia "request, demand, ask," Middle Dutch eiscen, Dutch eisen "to ask, demand," Old High German eiscon "to ask (a question)," German heischen "to ask, demand"), from PIE *ais- "to wish, desire" (source also of Sanskrit icchati "seeks, desires," Armenian aic "investigation," Old Church Slavonic iskati "to seek," Lithuanian ieškau, ieškoti "to seek").
Form in English influenced by a Scandinavian cognate (such as Danish æske; the Old English would have evolved by normal sound changes into ash, esh, which was a Midlands and southwestern England dialect form). Modern dialectal ax is as old as Old English acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c. 1600. Related: Asked; asking.
Old English also had fregnan/frignan which carried more directly the sense of "question, inquire," and is from PIE root *prek-, the common source of words for "ask" in most Indo-European languages (see pray). If you ask me "in my opinion" is attested from 1910.
late 14c., demaunden, "ask questions, make inquiry," from Old French demander (12c.) "to request; to demand," from Latin demandare "entrust, charge with a commission" (in Medieval Latin, "to ask, request, demand"), from de- "completely" (see de-) + mandare "to order" (see mandate (n.)).
Meaning "ask for with insistence or urgency" is from early 15c., from Anglo-French legal use ("to ask for as a right"). Meaning "require as necessary or useful" is by 1748. Related: Demanded; demanding.
late 14c., requeren, "to ask (someone) a question, inquire," a sense now obsolete, from Old French requerre, requerir "seek, procure; beg, ask, petition; demand," from Vulgar Latin *requaerere, from Latin requirere "seek to know, ask, ask for (something needed)," from re-, here perhaps meaning "repeatedly" (see re-), + quaerere "ask, seek" (see query (v.)). In some later English senses probably directly from Latin.
Still in 16c.-17c. commonly "to ask or request (to have or do something)," but this original sense of the word has been taken over by request (v.).
Also from late 14c. as "to stand in need of, want; to need for some end or purpose." The sense of "demand that (someone) do (something)" is from 1751, via the notion of "to ask for imperatively, or as a right" (late 14c.). The meaning "demand as necessary or essential on general principles" is from early 15c. Related: Required; requiring.
Latin imperative of quaerere "to ask, inquire" (see query (v.)). Used in English in the sense of "one may ask" (1530s) as an introduction to a question. Also used as a synonym of query (1580s).
1530s, "ask (someone) to (do something), express desire for something to be done;" 1560s, "express a wish or desire, ask to be allowed to do something," from request (n.) or from French requester, "ask again, request, reclaim," from requeste. The older verb was Middle English requeren (14c.), from Old French requerre and directly from Latin requiare. Related: Requested; requesting.
early 15c., prorogen, "to prolong, extend" (a truce, agreement, etc.), a sense now obsolete, from Old French proroger, proroguer (14c.) and directly from Latin prorogare, literally "to ask publicly," from pro "before" (see pro-) + rogare "to ask, inquire, question; ask a favor," also "to propose (a law, a candidate);" see rogation. Perhaps the original sense in Latin was "to ask for public assent to extending someone's term in office."
The parliamentary meaning "discontinue temporarily, adjourn until a later time without dissolution" is attested from mid-15c. Related: Prorogued; prorogation.
