Inquisition

5 definitions found

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

  Inquisition \In`qui*si"tion\, v. t.
     To make inquisition concerning; to inquire into. [Obs.]
     --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]

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



  Inquisition \In`qui*si"tion\, n. [L. inquisitio : cf. F.
     inquisition. See {Inquire}, and cf. {Inquest}.]
     1. The act of inquiring; inquiry; search; examination;
        inspection; investigation.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              As I could learn through earnest inquisition.
                                                    --Latimer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Let not search and inquisition quail
              To bring again these foolish runaways. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Law)
        (a) Judicial inquiry; official examination; inquest.
        (b) The finding of a jury, especially such a finding under
            a writ of inquiry. --Bouvier.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  The justices in eyre had it formerly in charge
                  to make inquisition concerning them by a jury of
                  the county.                       --Blackstone.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (R. C. Ch.) 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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Inquisition
       n 1: a former tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church (1232-1820)
            created to discover and suppress heresy
       2: a severe interrogation (often violating the rights or
          privacy of individuals)

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

  40 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
  
  

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

  INQUISITION, practice. An examination of certain facts by a jury impanelled 
  by the sheriff for the purpose; the instrument of writing on which their 
  decision is made is also called an inquisition. The sheriff or coroner and 
  the jury who make the inquisition, are called the inquest. 
       2. An inquisition on an untimely death, if omitted by the coroner, may 
  be taken by justices of gaol delivery and oyer and terminer. or of the 
  peace, but it must be done publicly and openly, otherwise it will be 
  quashed. Inquisitions either of the coroner, or of the other jurisdictions, 
  are traversable. 1 Burr. 18, 19.