inquest

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: in=quest

CIDE DICTIONARY

inquest, n. [OE. enqueste, OF. enqueste, F. enquête, LL. inquesta, for inquisita, fr. L. inquisitus, p. p. of inquirere. See Inquire.].

•  Inquiry; quest; search.  Spenser.  [1913 Webster]

  "The laborious and vexatious inquest that the soul must make after science."  [1913 Webster]
•  Judicial inquiry; official examination, esp. before a jury; as, a coroner's inquest in case of a sudden death.  [1913 Webster]

Coroner's inquest, an inquest held by a coroner to determine the cause of any violent, sudden, or mysterious death. See Coroner. -- Inquest of office, an inquiry made, by authority or direction of proper officer, into matters affecting the rights and interests of the crown or of the state. Craig. Bouvier.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

inquest, n.
1 Law a an inquiry by a coroner's court into the cause of a death. b a judicial inquiry to ascertain the facts relating to an incident etc. c a coroner's jury.
2 colloq. a discussion analysing the outcome of a game, an election, etc.

Etymology

ME f. OF enqueste (as ENQUIRE)

THESAURUS

inquest

analysis, assize, autopsy, blue-ribbon jury, change of venue, coroner, country, court-martial, cross-examination, delving, examination, grand jury, hearing, hung jury, inquirendo, inquiring, inquiring mind, inquiry, inquisition, investigation, jury, jury list, jury of inquest, jury of matrons, jury panel, jury trial, medical examiner, mistrial, mortality committee, necropsy, necroscopy, panel, petit jury, police jury, postmortem, postmortem examination, probe, probing, quest, research, sessions, special jury, trial, trial by jury, trial jury, venire

ROGET THESAURUS

inquest

Inquiry

N inquiry, request, search, research, quest, pursuit, examination, review, scrutiny, investigation, indagation, perquisition, perscrutation, pervestigation, inquest, inquisition, exploration, exploitation, ventilation, sifting, calculation, analysis, dissection, resolution, induction, Baconian method, strict inquiry, close inquiry, searching inquiry, exhaustive inquiry, narrow search, strict search, study, scire facias, ad referendum, trial, questioning, interrogation, interrogatory, interpellation, challenge, examination, cross-examination, catechism, feeler, Socratic method, zetetic philosophy, leading question, discussion, reconnoitering, reconnaissance, prying, espionage, espionnage, domiciliary visit, peep behind the curtain, lantern of Diogenes, question, query, problem, desideratum, point to be solved, porism, subject of inquiry, field of inquiry, subject of controversy, point in dispute, matter in dispute, moot point, issue, question at issue, bone of contention, plain question, fair question, open question, enigma, knotty point, quodlibet, threshold of an inquiry, inquirer, investigator, inquisitor, inspector, querist, examiner, catechist, scrutator scrutineer scrutinizer, analyst, quidnunc, inquiry, inquisitive, requisitive, requisitory, catechetical, inquisitorial, analytic, in search of, in quest of, on the lookout for, interrogative, zetetic, all searching, undetermined, untried, undecided, in question, in dispute, in issue, in course of inquiry, under discussion, under consideration, under investigation, sub judice, moot, proposed, doubtful, quaere?, what?, why?, wherefore?, whence?, whither?, where?, how comes it?, how happens it?, how is it?, what is the reason?, what's the matter?, nicht wahr?, what's in the wind?, what on earth?, when?, who?.