inquisition

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English inquisicioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French inquisicion, also inquisition,^[5][3][4] and directly borrowed from Latin inquīsītiō (“a searching into, examination, legal examination”),^[2][5][3] a noun of action from inquīrō (“to inquire”),^[5][4][6] formed from in- (“into”) and quaerō (“to seek”).^[6] The Old French word is recorded from the 12th century,^[5][4] and the Anglo-Norman inquisicion, a judicial inquiry or inquest, from 1353.^[7] The OED compares Italian inquisizione.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of inquiring or searching into matters to find out the truth; inquiry, investigation: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^[5][3] Barnhart glosses this first use as interrogation, questioning.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A judicial or official investigation, an inquest, is recorded from 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's “Polychronicon”,^[5][3] and the MED also has the written record of such an inquiry.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined the word first as judicial inquiry, quoting the Psalms, "When he maketh inquisition for blood".^[8] The papacy set up ecclesiastical courts to suppress heresy in 1232, according to the OED;^[5] Etymonline names Innocent III and notes that the court never operated in Britain,^[4] Collins dates the institution 1232–1820,^[9] and Brewer had it fully established by Gregory IX in 1235 and finally suppressed in Spain only in 1834.^[10] The English word refers to it, with a capital, only from 1502, and usually means the Spanish Inquisition, reorganized in 1478–83 under the control of the state and noted for its severity and secrecy.^[5][3][4] From 1701 the name was applied figuratively to any group that persecuted or interrogated others.^[5] From 1856, in Emerson, the word meant any intense or unwelcome questioning, a grilling.^[5] A verb, to make inquisition, is recorded from 1644, in Milton's “Areopagitica”, and to proceed against by the Inquisition from 1647.^[5][11]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – inquiry, investigation, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[5][3]
• 1387 – a judicial or official inquiry, an inquest.^[5][3]
• c. 1440 – an act of inquiry; a search.^[5] Barnhart dates the sense of a thorough, searching inquiry to before 1439.^[3]
• 1502 – the Inquisition, the tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church.^[5][3]
• 1644 – verb, to make inquisition.^[5]
• 1647 – verb, to proceed against by the Inquisition.^[5][11]
• 1701 – figurative, a body likened to the Inquisition.^[5]
• 1856 – intense or unwelcome questioning, a grilling.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thorough or searching inquiry; an investigation.^[9][12][5]
2. A harsh official investigation meant to root out dissent or unorthodox views; also any intense or unwelcome questioning: The job interview turned into an inquisition.^[9][5]
3. An official judicial inquiry, especially one held before a jury; an inquest, or the record of its findings.^{[9][12][5][2]}
4. (historical) Inquisition: a tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church, set up in the 13th century to discover and suppress heresy, especially the Spanish Inquisition.^[9][5][11]

Verb

1. To make inquisition or inquiry; to subject to inquisitional examination.^[12][5]
2. (historical) To proceed against by the Inquisition.^[11][5]

Word family

• inquisitional

Related words

• inquire
• inquest
• inquisitive
• inquisitor
• query
• quest

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1898), Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, new ed., London: Cassell
11. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster