English
enquire
Enquire comes from Old French enquerre ‘to ask’, from querre ‘to search, to look for’, and ultimately from Latin quaerere.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerere
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400querre‘to search, to look for’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400enquerre‘to ask’
- Englishearliest quotation 1643enquire
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerere
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400querre‘to search, to look for’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400enquerre‘to ask’
- Englishearliest quotation 1643enquire
Earliest quotation: 1643, John Milton, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […]: “Having thus at length enquired the truth concerning Law…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- ‘to acquire’
quest, acquisition, query, conquer, exquisite, inquisition, requisite, inquisitor, 13 more
through Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō
through Latin quaerere
Today it means
verb —
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin quaerere / enquire