Adjacent Words

Inquest definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IN'QUEST, n. [L. inquisitio, inquiro; in and quoero, to seek.]
1. Inquisition; judicial inquiry; official examination. An inquest of office, is an inquiry made by the king's officer, his sheriff, coroner, or escheator, concerning any matter that entitles the king to the possession of lands or tenements, goods or chattels. It is made by a jury of no determinate number.
In the United States, a similar inquiry, made by the proper officer, under the authority of a state.
2. A jury.
3. Inquiry; search.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French enqueste, from Vulgar Latin *inquaesta, feminine of *inquaestus, past participle of *inquaerere to inquire Date: 13th century 1. a. a judicial or official inquiry or examination especially before a jury <a coroner's inquest> b. a body of people (as a jury) assembled to hold such an inquiry c. the finding of the jury upon such inquiry or the document recording it 2. inquiry, investigation

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 Law a an inquiry by a coroner's court into the cause of a death. b a judicial inquiry to ascertain the facts relating to an incident etc. c a coroner's jury. 2 colloq. a discussion analysing the outcome of a game, an election, etc. Etymology: ME f. OF enqueste (as ENQUIRE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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. The laborious and vexatious inquest that the soul must make after science. --South. 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 matterm 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. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(inquests) 1. When an inquest is held, a public official hears evidence about someone's death in order to find out the cause. The inquest into their deaths opened yesterday in Enniskillen. N-COUNT: oft N into n 2. You can refer to an investigation by the people involved into the causes of a defeat or failure as an inquest. His plea came last night as party chiefs held an inquest into the election disaster. = inquiry N-COUNT: usu sing, usu N into n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Inquisition, judicial inquiry (especially by a coroner). 2. Jury (particularly a coroner's jury).

Moby Thesaurus

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