Inquest

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Inquest \In"quest\, n. [OE. enqueste, OF. enqueste, F.
     enqu[^e]te, LL. inquesta, for inquisita, fr. L. inquisitus,
     p. p. of inquirere. See {Inquire}.]
     1. Inquiry; quest; search. [R.] --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              The laborious and vexatious inquest that the soul
              must make after science.              --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Law)
        (a) Judicial inquiry; official examination, esp. before a
            jury; as, a coroner's inquest in case of a sudden
            death.
        (b) A body of men assembled under authority of law to
            inquire into any matter, civil or criminal,
            particularly any case of violent or sudden death; a
            jury, particularly a coroner's jury. The grand jury is
            sometimes called the grand inquest. See under {Grand}.
        (c) The finding of the jury upon such inquiry.
            [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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  inquest
       n : an inquiry into the cause of an unexpected death

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  46 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  INQUEST. A body of men appointed by law to inquire into certain matters; as, 
  the inquest examined into the facts connected with the alleged murder; the 
  grand jury, is sometimes called the grand inquest. The judicial inquiry 
  itself is also called an inquest. The finding of such men, upon an 
  investigation, is also called an inquest or an inquisition. 
       2. An inquest of office was bound to find for the king upon the 
  direction of the court. The reason given is that the inquest concluded no 
  man of his right, but only gave the king an opportunity to enter so that he 
  could have his right tried. Moore, 730; Vaughan, 135; 3 H. VII. 10; 2 H. IV. 
  5; 3 Leon. 196.