English
inquisition
Inquisition comes from Latin inquisitio ‘search, inquiry, examination, investigation’, and goes back to quaerō ‘seek, look for’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō‘seek, look for’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinquīrōas inquirere‘to seek after, search for, inquire into something’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinquisitio‘search, inquiry, examination, investigation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400inquisicion
- Englishearliest quotation 1552inquisition
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaerō‘seek, look for’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinquīrōas inquirere‘to seek after, search for, inquire into something’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinquisitio‘search, inquiry, examination, investigation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400inquisicion
- Englishearliest quotation 1552inquisition
Earliest quotation: 1552, Hughe Latymer [i.e., [The First Sermon]: “But as farrefoorth as I coulde learne, through earneſt…”
The story
The sense implying persecution is influenced by the name of the Spanish Inquisition, which is a cardinal exemplar of government inquisitions that give inquisitions a bad name.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- ‘to acquire’
through Proto-Italic *kʷaizō
conquest, questionnaire, 11 more
through Latin quaerō ‘seek, look for’
quest, query, conquer, acquisition, exquisite, requisite, 15 more
through Latin inquīrō ‘to seek after, search for, inquire into…’
Today it means
noun An inquiry or investigation into the truth of some matter.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin quaerō / inquisition