enquiry
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English enquery, from the Old French verb enquerre, from Latin inquīrō, composed of in- (“in, at, on; into”) + quaerō (“I seek, look for”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). The alternative form inquiry was subsequently respelled to conform to the original Latin spelling, as opposed to the Old French spelling.
Pronunciation
Noun
enquiry (countable and uncountable, plural enquiries)
- British form of inquiry
- scientific enquiry
- An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (title of book by David Hume)
Usage notes
Derived terms
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “enquiry”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.