Meanings
nouninspection (countable and uncountable, plural inspections)
plural inspections · alternative obsolete inspexion
- countableuncountableThe act of examining something, often closely.
Upon closer inspection, the animal turned out to be a dolphin, not a shark!
3 more examples
Trap doors are provided at various places in the floor to facilitate inspection and maintenance of the diesel equipment.
1960 September 28, “Inter-city diesel units for the Hull-Liverpool service of the N.E.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 559–560The NHRC conducted onsite inspections of Chienchen and Suao Fishing Harbors and held numerous seminars with industry, government, and academia representatives.
2022 May 28, “2021 Annual Report of the Control Yuan”, in Control Yuan, →ISBN, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2022, page 41Parcels slide down a ramp after being scanned at the US Customs and Border Protection overseas mail inspection facility at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in February 2024.
2025 May 2, Elisabeth Buchwald, Ramishah Maruf, “A massive tariff on millions of Americans’ purchases just went into effect — cue the chaos”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2025 - countableuncountableAn organization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed.
The inspection fined the restaurant's owner because the kitchen was dirty.
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinīnspectiō“examination, inspection”
- Old Frenchinspeccion
- Englishinspection
From Middle French, from Old French inspeccion, from Latin īnspectiō (“examination, inspection”), from the verb īnspiciō (“to inspect”), from speciō (“to look at”). By surface analysis, inspect + -ion.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَفَقُّد
- تَفَقُّد (tafaqqud)the act of examining something, often closely
Bulgarian пре́глед, реви́зия
- пре́глед (prégled)the act of examining something, often closely
- реви́зия (revízija)the act of examining something, often closely
- прове́рка (provérka)the act of examining something, often closely
- инспе́кция (inspékcija)organization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Catalan inspecció
- inspeccióthe act of examining something, often closely
Chinese Mandarin 檢查 /检查
- 檢查 /检查 (jiǎnchá)the act of examining something, often closely
Czech prohlídka, kontrola
- prohlídkathe act of examining something, often closely
- kontrolathe act of examining something, often closely
- inspekceorganization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Dutch onderzoek, inspectie
- onderzoekthe act of examining something, often closely
- inspectiethe act of examining something, often closely
- inspectieorganization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
- keuringorganization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Esperanto inspekto, pririgardo
- inspektothe act of examining something, often closely
- pririgardothe act of examining something, often closely
Finnish tarkastus, tarkastelu
- tarkastusthe act of examining something, often closely
- tarkasteluthe act of examining something, often closely
- tutkiminenthe act of examining something, often closely
- katsastusthe act of examining something, often closely
- tarkastusvirastoorganization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
French inspection
- inspectionthe act of examining something, often closely
German Inspektion, Prüfung
- Inspektionthe act of examining something, often closely
- Prüfungthe act of examining something, often closely
Greek εξέταση, επιθεώρηση
- εξέταση (exétasi)the act of examining something, often closely
- επιθεώρηση (epitheórisi)organization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Hindi निरीक्षण, जाँच
- निरीक्षण (nirīkṣaṇ)the act of examining something, often closely
- जाँच (jā̃c)the act of examining something, often closely
Hungarian ellenőrzés
- ellenőrzésthe act of examining something, often closely
Indonesian pemeriksaan, inspeksi
- pemeriksaanthe act of examining something, often closely
- inspeksithe act of examining something, often closely
Italian ispezione, controllo
- ispezionethe act of examining something, often closely
- controllothe act of examining something, often closely
- esamethe act of examining something, often closely
- analisithe act of examining something, often closely
- ispezioneorganization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Japanese 検査
- 検査 (kensa)the act of examining something, often closely
Korean 검사
- 검사 (geomsa)the act of examining something, often closely
Malay pemeriksaan, inspeksi
- pemeriksaanthe act of examining something, often closely
- inspeksithe act of examining something, often closely
Māori mātaitanga
- mātaitangathe act of examining something, often closely
Norwegian Bokmål inspeksjon
- inspeksjonthe act of examining something, often closely
Polish badanie, zbadanie
- badaniethe act of examining something, often closely
- zbadaniethe act of examining something, often closely
- kontrolathe act of examining something, often closely
- inspekcjathe act of examining something, often closely
- inspekcjaorganization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
- kontrolaorganization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Portuguese inspeção
- inspeçãothe act of examining something, often closely
Romanian inspecționare, controlare
- inspecționarethe act of examining something, often closely
- controlarethe act of examining something, often closely
- inspectarethe act of examining something, often closely
Russian инспе́кция, прове́рка
- инспе́кция (inspékcija)the act of examining something, often closely
- прове́рка (provérka)the act of examining something, often closely
- инспе́кция (inspékcija)organization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Spanish inspección
- inspecciónthe act of examining something, often closely
Turkish teftiş
- teftişthe act of examining something, often closely
Ukrainian інспе́кція, переві́рка
- інспе́кція (inspékcija)the act of examining something, often closely
- переві́рка (perevírka)the act of examining something, often closely
- інспе́кція (inspékcija)organization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Urdu مُعائِنَہ, مُعائِنَہ
- مُعائِنَہ (mu'āina)the act of examining something, often closely
- مُعائِنَہ (mu'āina)organization that checks that certain laws or rules are obeyed
Vietnamese sự kiểm tra
- sự kiểm trathe act of examining something, often closely
Welsh arolwg
- arolwgthe act of examining something, often closely
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with inspection
sectioncollectionprotectionselectionconnectionelectiondirectiondetectioninfectioncorrectionprojectioninjectionreflectionrejectionperfectionobjectionresurrectionerectionaffectionconvectiondissectionrecollectioncomplexiondeflection
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
inspection. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inspection
MLA
“inspection.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inspection. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inspection,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inspection.
Source: inspection on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.