Etymologically
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investigative

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪnˈvɛstɪɡətɪv/, /ɪnˈvɛstɪɡeɪtɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English investigate + -ive.[2] Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford instead form it from the past participle stem of Latin investīgō (“to trace out, search after”), with the same suffix.[3][4] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“in, into”) and vestīgō (“to track, trace”), from vestīgium (“footprint, track”), the source of vestige.[3][2] The OED compares Medieval Latin investigativus, used from the 13th century, and notes the earlier English adjectives investigating and investigatory.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Inclined to investigation, or involving it: 1773, in the Westminster Magazine.[2] The OED's first edition and Etymonline dated it to 1803.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In current use the general sense refers especially to formal scientific or criminal investigations.[2] The sense now best known, of journalism that uncovers and exposes wrongdoing, is recorded in the United States from 1890, in the Philadelphia Inquirer,[2] though the OED's first edition and Etymonline dated it only to 1951.[5][3] The Oxford Dictionary of New Words traces the principle of such reporting to Basil Walters in the early 1950s, says that it really came into its own in the United States in the 1970s, with the Watergate scandal, and notes that in Britain by the mid-1980s it was linked above all with "watchdog" programmes on television and radio.[6]

Timeline

  • 1773 – characterized by or inclined to investigation.[2]
  • 1803 – first date in the OED's first edition and in Etymonline.[5][3]
  • 1890 – of journalism that exposes wrongdoing (originally US).[2]
  • 1951 – the journalism sense, in the OED's first edition and in Etymonline.[5][3]
  • 1970s – investigative reporting comes into its own in the US.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to or involving investigation, especially formal scientific or criminal inquiry: the agency's investigative staff.[7][2][8]
  2. Of journalism or a journalist: seeking to uncover and expose wrongdoing, corruption or hidden facts: investigative journalism.[8][2][4][6]
  3. Inclined to investigate; inquisitive.[7][2]

Word family

  • uninvestigative

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Knowles, Elizabeth; Elliott, Julia, eds. (1997), The Oxford Dictionary of New Words, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin