inquisition

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: In=qui=si=tion

CIDE DICTIONARY

inquisition, n. [L. inquisitio : cf. F. inquisition. See Inquire, and cf. Inquest.].

•  The act of inquiring; inquiry; search; examination; inspection; investigation.  [1913 Webster]

  "As I could learn through earnest inquisition."  [1913 Webster]

  "Let not search and inquisition quail
  To bring again these foolish runaways."  [1913 Webster]
•  Judicial inquiry; official examination; inquest.  Bouvier.  [1913 Webster]

  "The justices in eyre had it formerly in charge to make inquisition concerning them by a jury of the county."  [1913 Webster]
•  A court or tribunal for the examination and punishment of heretics, fully established by Pope Gregory IX. in 1235. Its operations were chiefly confined to Spain, Portugal, and their dependencies, and a part of Italy.  [1913 Webster]

inquisition, v. t. 

 To make inquisition concerning; to inquire into.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

inquisition, n.
1 usu. derog. an intensive search or investigation.
2 a judicial or official inquiry.
3 (the Inquisition) RC Ch. hist. an ecclesiastical tribunal for the suppression of heresy, esp. in Spain, operating through torture and execution.

Derivative

inquisitional adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L inquisitio -onis examination (as INQUIRE)

THESAURUS

inquisition

Areopagus, analysis, assize, board, change of venue, council, court-martial, cross-examination, cross-interrogation, cross-questioning, curia, delving, direct examination, examination, forum, grilling, hearing, inquest, inquirendo, inquiring, inquiring mind, inquiry, investigation, judicatory, judicature, judiciary, jury trial, mistrial, police interrogation, probe, probing, quest, redirect examination, research, the Inquisition, the grill, third-degree, trial, trial by jury, tribunal

ROGET THESAURUS

inquisition

Severity

N severity, strictness, harshness, rigor, stringency, austerity, inclemency, arrogance, precisianism, arbitrary power, absolutism, despotism, dictatorship, autocracy, tyranny, domineering, oppression, assumption, usurpation, inquisition, reign of terror, martial law, iron heel, iron rule, iron hand, iron sway, tight grasp, brute force, brute strength, coercion, strong hand, tight hand, hard lines, hard measure, tender mercies, sharp practice, pipe-clay, officialism, tyrant, disciplinarian, precisian, martinet, stickler, bashaw, despot, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy, vulture, accipitres, birds of prey, raptorials, raptors, severe, strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell, relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative, coercive, tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial, inclement, cruel, haughty, arrogant, precisian, severely, with a high hand, with a strong hand, with a tight hand, with a heavy hand, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi, manu forti, ogni debole ha sempre il suo tiranno.

Tribunal

N tribunal, court, board, bench, judicatory, court of justice, court of law, court of arbitration, administrative court, inquisition, guild, justice seat, judgment seat, mercy seat, woolsack, bar of justice, dock, forum, hustings, bureau, drumhead, jury box, witness box, senate house, town hall, theater, House of Commons, House of Lords, statehouse, townhouse, assize, eyre, wardmote, burghmote, barmote, superior courts of Westminster, court of record, court oyer and terminer, court assize, court of appeal, court of error, High court of Judicature, High court of Appeal, Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Star Chamber, Court of Chancery, Court of King's or Queen's Bench, Court of Exchequer, Court of Common Pleas, Court of Probate, Court of Arches, Court of Admiralty, Lords Justices' court, Rolls court, Vice Chancellor's court, Stannary court, Divorce court, Family court, Palatine court, county court, district court, police court, sessions, quarter sessions, petty sessions, court-leet, court-baron, court of pie poudre, court of common council, board of green cloth, court martial, drumhead court martial, durbar, divan, Areopagus, Irota, judicial, appellate, die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht.

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?.