Meanings
plural inquiries · alternative UK enquiry
- countableuncountableThe act of inquiring; a seeking of information by asking questions; interrogation; a question or questioning.
Yet in that February there were still some flutters of song, one of which was, Hey for the Lass wi' a Tocher, written in answer to Thomson's beseeching inquiry if he was never to hear from him again.
1901, John Morley, editor, English Men of Letters, volume 30 - countableuncountableA search for truth, information, or knowledge; examination of facts or principles; research; investigation; inquest.
Scientific inquiry
1 more example
Donald Trump has lashed out against his own supporters, calling them gullible “weaklings” for questioning the transparency of a secretive government inquiry into the late high-profile socialite and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
2025 July 17, Oliver Holmes, “Trump calls Epstein conspiracy a ‘hoax’ and turns on Maga ‘weaklings’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2025
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna systematic investigation of a matter of public interest
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷeh₂-“to acquire”
- Proto-Italic*kʷaizeō
- Latininquīrō
- Middle Englishenquery
- Englishinquiry
From Middle English enquery, from the Old French verb enquerre, from Latin inquīrō, composed of in- (“in, at, on; into”) + quaerō (“to seek, look for”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). Later respelled to conform to the original Latin spelling, as opposed to the Old French spelling.
More words from Middle English, Latin, Proto-Italic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ζήτημα
- ζήτημα (zḗtēma)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Bengali তলাশ
- তলাশ (tolaś)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Bulgarian питане, запитване
- питане (pitane)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- запитване (zapitvane)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Catalan indagació, perquisició
- indagacióthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- perquisicióthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Chinese Mandarin 查詢 /查询, 質問 /质问
- 查詢 /查询 (cháxún)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- 質問 /质问 (zhìwèn)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Danish forespørgsel, forhør
- forespørgselthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- forhørthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- undersøgelseresearch; investigation
Dutch navraag, onderzoek
- navraagthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- onderzoekresearch; investigation
Esperanto demandado, enketo
- demandadothe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- enketoresearch; investigation
Finnish kysely, tiedustelu
- kyselythe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- tiedusteluthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- tutkimusthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- tutkimusresearch; investigation
French enquête
- enquêtethe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
German Anfrage, Erkundigung
- Anfragethe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- Erkundigungthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- Abfragethe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- Untersuchungresearch; investigation
- Erforschungresearch; investigation
- Erkundungresearch; investigation
- Nachforschungresearch; investigation
- Rechercheresearch; investigation
Hindi जाँच, जाँच
- जाँच (jā̃c)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- जाँच (jā̃c)research; investigation
- शोध (śodh)research; investigation
Hungarian érdeklődés, tudakozódás
- érdeklődésthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- tudakozódásthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- kérdezősködésthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- tájékozódásthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- vizsgálatresearch; investigation
- kivizsgálásresearch; investigation
- nyomozásresearch; investigation
Indonesian inkuiri
- inkuiriresearch; investigation
Irish fiosrúchán
- fiosrúchánthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Italian inchiesta, indagine
- inchiestathe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- indaginethe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Japanese 問い合わせ, 調査
- 問い合わせ (toiawase)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- 調査 (chōsa)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- 質問 (shitsumon)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- 探究 (tankyū)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Korean 질문, 문의
- 질문 (jilmun)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- 문의 (munui)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- 조사 (josa)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- 탐구 (tamgu)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Latin quaestiō, scītātiō
- quaestiōthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- scītātiōthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Norwegian Bokmål forespørsel
- forespørselthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Portuguese pergunta, questionamento
- perguntathe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- questionamentothe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- inquéritothe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Romanian anchetă
- anchetăthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Russian запро́с, рассле́дование
- запро́с (zaprós)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- рассле́дование (rasslédovanije)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- дозна́ние (doznánije)the act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Spanish indagatoria, pesquisa
- indagatoriathe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- pesquisathe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- indagaciónthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- inquietudthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- consultathe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
Swedish förfrågan, efterforskning
- förfråganthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- efterforskningthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- undersökningthe act of inquiring (by asking questions, etc)
- undersökningresearch; investigation
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with inquiry
All rhymes →Cite this entry
inquiry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inquiry
“inquiry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inquiry. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inquiry,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inquiry.
Source: inquiry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.