LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
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“enquiry” in Latin

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

enquiry
interrogatio (a question put for the purpose of obtaining an answer; of learning anybody’s opinion, etc.): quaestio (implies rather a sustained and accurate enquiry, especially of a scientific or judicial enquiry; also = a subject of enquiry, perdifficilis et perobscura quaestio): percunctatio (for the purpose of making one’s self acquainted with the particulars of an event, etc., in detail): disceptatio (a learned discussion, or debate): cogaitio (enquiry for the purpose of obtaining accurate knowledge; e.g., into the nature of things, rerum; especially the proper word of a judicial enquiry with reference to him who presides at it; and of an enquiry intrusted to a commission): inquisitio (the searching into a subject which we wish to discover; e.g., veri; but in a judicial sense, it is never the trial itself, but = the preparatory enquiries into a person’s character, manner of life, etc., upon which the enquirer means to found his accusation). To institute an enquiry, quaestionem habere or instituere; cognitionem instituere; about anything, quaerere aliquid or de aliqua re; quaestionem de aliqua re habere, adhibere, instituere, or constituere; causam cognoscere: to make or institute enquiries about anybody, inquirere in aliquem (with the view of founding an accusation upon them): to institute an enquiry about anybody, quaestionem habere de aliquo or in aliquem; quaestionem ferre in aliquem: quaestionem ponere in aliquem (the last, Liv., 42, 22): an enquiry was resolved upon, quaestiones decretae sunt: without enquiry (e.g., to condemn anybody), causa incognita: after diligent or careful enquiry, *re diligenter cognita.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for enquiry?
The usual Latin words for “enquiry” are interrogātiō, quaestiō, disceptātiō; also inquīsītiō, rēs, vērus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.