Etymologically
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enquête

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.kɛt/[1]
  • IPA: /ɑ̃.kɛːt/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec, informal): [ãkæɪ̯t][1]

Forms

enquête f (plural enquêtes)[1] Old French enqueste;[2][3] enquête from the 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French enqueste, inherited from Vulgar Latin *inquaesita, the feminine past participle, used as a noun, of *inquaerō, a form of Latin inquīrō (“to seek out, inquire into”) remade on the simple verb quaerō (“to seek”).[4][5][3][6] The participle had disappeared before the first texts.[5] The verb gave enquérir.[5][4] Compare Medieval Latin inquesta, a legal term in England in 1275, Italian inchiesta and Old Occitan enquesta.[4][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Livre des Rois (about 1170) enqueste means a search or inquiry.[4]

Semantic evolution

Beaumanoir (1283) uses it as a legal term, the inquiry ordered by a court, as in loial enqueste; the 15th-century royal ordinances classify enquestes à juger and enquestes jugées.[4][7] In the late 12th century it could also mean a question or request.[2] Palsgrave (1530) records the general sense, a search for the truth by questioning people and studying documents, and in the 19th century it came to mean a survey of opinions or facts (1870).[2] The derivatives are enquêter and enquêteur (1283, Beaumanoir).[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – Enqueste in the Livre des Rois.[4]
  • 1275 – Medieval Latin inquesta in England.[4]
  • 1283 – A judicial inquiry, in Beaumanoir.[4]
  • 1530 – Palsgrave: a search for the truth.[2]
  • 1870 – A survey of opinion.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) A judicial inquiry in which witnesses are heard: ouvrir une enquête.[8][4]
  2. An investigation, especially by the police.[1][8]
  3. A survey, an inquiry into opinions or facts by questioning people: enquête d'opinion.[1][2]
  • enquêter
  • enquérir
  • requête
  • quête
  • Latin inquīrō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 707a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert