exigency
nounUK /ˈɛksɪd͡ʒənsi/ · US /ˈɛɡzəd͡ʒənsi/
Etymology From Middle French exigence, from Late Latin exigentia (“urgency”) (from exigēns + -ia), from exigere (“to demand”).
1
In plural The demands or requirements of a situation which often demand immediate action.
- My business is with you, and you only. You should not have undertaken your office, unless prepared for its various exigencies.1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 226:
- No ordinary man could have escaped those frightful claws when Numa sprang from so short a distance, but Tarzan was no ordinary man. From earliest childhood his muscles had been trained by the fierce exigencies of his existence to act with the rapidity of thought.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 80:
1 more example
- [...] but these details I am compelled by exigencies of space to hold over until next month.1940 July, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 408:
2
An urgent situation, one requiring extreme effort or attention.