inquisitio

Forms

inquīsītiō f (genitive inquīsītiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inquīrō (“to search for, inquire”) + -tiō.^[2][1] inquīrō is from in- and quaerō (“to seek”), for which de Vaan prefers Nussbaum's reconstruction as a present to Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂-i- (“to acquire”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus, where a character is told not to make him search for him.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a search, and the search for truth: Cicero pairs it with investīgātiō.^[2] Curtius uses it of a levy of new soldiers.^[5] It is an investigation or scrutiny, as of an official in charge of the grain supply who exposed a shortage in Livy, and in law the collecting of evidence for a prosecution: Cicero objects to the examination of a candidate by his rival.^[2] Tacitus uses it of spying that took away even the freedom to speak and listen.^[2] In medieval Latin it is an inquiry and especially a sworn inquest, in which witnesses were questioned under oath, also of a judicial kind;^[6][4] Köbler finds it in a capitulary of 821.^[6][4] Church Latin uses it for the Inquisition.^[7] English inquisition comes from it through Old French in the late 14th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of looking for someone.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the search for truth and of examining a candidate.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of an official inquiry.^[2][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of spying.^[2][4]
• 821 – A capitulary of a sworn inquest.^[4][6]
• late 14th century – English borrows it through Old French as inquisition.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A search, hunting out.^[2][5][1]
2. An investigation, inquiry, scrutiny;^[2][1][7] (law) the collecting of evidence for a prosecution; in a bad sense, prying, spying.^[2][1][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) A sworn inquest, also judicial.^[6]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Inquisition.^[7]

Related words

• inquīrō
• inquīsītor
• English inquisition

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com