Inquiring minds want to know

So don't ask me why...really don't...I have no idea...but I was struck this morning by the similarity between the words "require" and "quiero" (Spanish for "I want"). Perhaps I've been working on requirements too much lately. In any case, what is a requirement, after all, but something I want?

In such intriguing cases, I generally resort to my handy dandy Random House College Dictionary (acquired when I was in Grad School) which often provides helpful etymological information. Paydirt!

Unsurprisingly, Require, Acquire, Inquire, Query, Quest, Question all originate from the Latin quaerere, to seek, ask.

That's as distinguished from Quarry, which, according to Merriam Webster Online (now that I've put away my dictionary) is derived from the French cuir (skin, hide), which, itself, is derived from the Latin corium (which also gives us Excoriate). Which is weird because if you'd asked me, I'd have said that a lot of hunters seek quarry. In fact one of the definitions that Merriam Webster offers for quarry is "one that is sought or pursued." And then there's the stone quarry, which is totally unrelated and comes from the Latin quadrus meaning square (as in a square block of stone).

Who gets to decide the official etymology, anyway?