Meanings
verbinvestigate (third-person singular simple present investigates, present participle investigating, simple past and past participle investigated)
present singular third person investigates · participle present investigating · participle past investigated · past investigated
- transitiveTo inquire into or study in order to ascertain facts or information.
He was asked to investigate a robbery.
4 more examples
to investigate the causes of natural phenomena
We investigated the presence of CNM in ornithophagous ticks from migrating birds.
2015 July 25, “Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis in Ticks from Migrating Birds in Sweden”, in PLOS ONE, →DOIThe current study investigates autoantibodies against steroid synthesis enzymes in dogs with spontaneous hypoadrenocorticism.
2015 December 1, “Autoantibodies against Cytochrome P450 Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme in Dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ) Affected with Hypoadrenocorticism (Addison’s Disease)”, in PLOS ONE, →DOIESP, using the tools of corpus linguistics, has advanced the methodologies for investigating discipline-specific language, yet there has been little cross-fertilization so far with disciplinary literacy in secondary education.
2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Position vectors, homologous chromosomes and gamma rays: Promoting disciplinary literacy through Secondary Phrase Lists”, in English for Specific Purposes, →DOI, page 2 - transitiveTo examine, look into, or scrutinize in order to discover something hidden or secret.
to investigate an unsolved murder
- intransitiveTo conduct an inquiry or examination.
"Why don't you investigate?" he demanded. And investigate I did.
1903, Jack London, The Shadow and the Flash
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininvestīgātiō“a searching into”
- Englishinvestigate
Recorded since circa 1510, a back-formation from investigation on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from Latin investīgātiō (“a searching into”), from investīgātus, the perfect passive participle of investīgō, equivalent to in- + vestigate. Displaced native Old English undersēċan (literally “to search under or between”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque aztertu
- aztertu(''transitive'') to examine
Bulgarian изследвам, проучвам
- изследвам (izsledvam)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- проучвам (proučvam)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- разследвам (razsledvam)(''transitive'') to examine
- разследвам (razsledvam)(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Catalan investigar, investigar
- investigar(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- investigar(''transitive'') to examine
- investigar(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Chinese Mandarin 調查 /调查
- 調查 /调查 (diàochá)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
Czech zkoumat, pátrat
- zkoumat(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- pátrat(''transitive'') to examine
- vyšetřovat(''transitive'') to examine
- vyšetřit(''transitive'') to examine
- vyšetřovat(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Danish undersøge, undersøge
- undersøge(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- undersøge(''transitive'') to examine
- efterforske(''transitive'') to examine
- undersøge(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
- udrede(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Dutch onderzoeken, bekijken
- onderzoeken(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- bekijken(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- bestuderen(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- onderzoeken(''transitive'') to examine
- een onderzoek instellen(''transitive'') to examine
- uitzoeken(''transitive'') to examine
- een onderzoek voeren(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Esperanto enketi
- enketi(''transitive'') to examine
Finnish tutkia, tutkia
- tutkia(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- tutkia(''transitive'') to examine
- tutkia(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
- selvittää(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
French étudier, enquêter
- étudier(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- enquêter(''transitive'') to examine
- enquêter(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
German untersuchen, erforschen
- untersuchen(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- erforschen(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- recherchieren(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- untersuchen(''transitive'') to examine
- ermitteln(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Greek ερευνώ, ερευνώ
- ερευνώ (erevnó)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- ερευνώ (erevnó)(''transitive'') to examine
Hindi शोध करना, जाँचना
- शोध करना (śodh karnā)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- जाँचना (jā̃cnā)(''transitive'') to examine
- जाँच करना (jā̃c karnā)(''transitive'') to examine
- जाँचना (jā̃cnā)(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
- जाँच करना (jā̃c karnā)(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Hungarian megvizsgál, vizsgál
- megvizsgál(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- vizsgál(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- tanulmányoz(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- kutat(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- kivizsgál(''transitive'') to examine
- nyomoz(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Indonesian mengkaji, menyelidiki
- mengkaji(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- menyelidiki(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- menyelidiki(''transitive'') to examine
Italian investigare, indagare
- investigare(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- indagare(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- investigare(''transitive'') to examine
- investigare(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
- indagare(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Japanese 調べる, 調査する
- 調べる (shiraberu)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- 調査する (chōsa suru)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- 調べる (shiraberu)(''transitive'') to examine
- 検査する (kensa suru)(''transitive'') to examine
Korean 조사하다
- 조사하다 (josahada)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
Latin aspicio, investigo
- aspicio(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- investigo(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- indago(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- vestigo(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- aspicio(''transitive'') to examine
- inquīrō(''transitive'') to examine
- aspicio(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Malay siasat, menyelidiki
- siasat(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- menyelidiki(''transitive'') to examine
- mengkaji(''transitive'') to examine
- mengkaji(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Māori whakatewhatewha, tūhura
- whakatewhatewha(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- tūhura(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- mātai(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- mātaki(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- rangahau(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- uiui(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- ārohi(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- whakatewhatewha(''transitive'') to examine
- tūhura(''transitive'') to examine
Norwegian Bokmål undersøke, ettersøke
- undersøke(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- ettersøke(''transitive'') to examine
Polish prowadzić dochodzenie, badać
- prowadzić dochodzenie(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- badać(''transitive'') to examine
- zbadać(''transitive'') to examine
Portuguese investigar, investigar
- investigar(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- investigar(''transitive'') to examine
- examinar(''transitive'') to examine
- investigar(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Romanian investiga
- investiga(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
Russian иссле́довать, рассле́довать
- иссле́довать (isslédovatʹ)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- рассле́довать (rasslédovatʹ)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- рассле́довать (rasslédovatʹ)(''transitive'') to examine
- изуча́ть (izučátʹ)(''transitive'') to examine
- изучи́ть (izučítʹ)(''transitive'') to examine
- рассле́довать (rasslédovatʹ)(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Scottish Gaelic rannsaich, rannsaich
- rannsaich(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- rannsaich(''transitive'') to examine
- rannsaich(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Spanish indagar, indagar
- indagar(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- indagar(''transitive'') to examine
- pesquisar(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Swahili -chunguza, -chunguza
- -chunguza(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- -chunguza(''transitive'') to examine
- -chunguza(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Swedish undersöka, undersöka
- undersöka(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- undersöka(''transitive'') to examine
- utreda(''transitive'') to examine
- utreda(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Thai สืบ, สืบสวน
- สืบ (sʉ̀ʉp)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- สืบสวน (sʉ̀ʉp-sǔuan)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- สำรวจ (sǎm-rùuat)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- สืบสาว(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- สืบสวน (sʉ̀ʉp-sǔuan)(''transitive'') to examine
- ไต่สวน (dtài-sǔuan)(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
- สอบสวน (sɔ̀ɔp-sǔuan)(''intransitive'') to conduct an inquiry or examination
Ukrainian дослі́джувати, досліди́ти
- дослі́джувати (doslídžuvaty)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- досліди́ти (doslidýty)(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- розслі́дувати (rozslíduvaty)(''transitive'') to examine
Vietnamese điều tra, điều tra
- điều tra(''transitive'') to inquire into, study
- điều tra(''transitive'') to examine
Cite this entry
APA
investigate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/investigate
MLA
“investigate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/investigate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “investigate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/investigate.
Source: investigate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.