inquisition (ˌɪnkwɪˈzɪʃən) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the act of inquiring deeply or searchingly; investigation |
| 2. | a deep or searching inquiry, esp a ruthless official investigation of individuals in order to suppress revolt or root out the unorthodox |
| 3. | an official inquiry, esp one held by a jury before an officer of the Crown |
| 4. | another word for inquest |
| [C14: from legal Latin inquīsītiō, from inquīrere to seek for; see | |
| inqui'sitional | |
| —adj | |
| inqui'sitionist | |
| —n | |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |