Inquisition

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The act of inquiring; inquiry; search; examination; inspection; investigation. As I could learn through earnest inquisition. Latimer. Let not search and inquisition quail To bring again these foolish runaways. Shak.

2. Judicial inquiry; official examination; inquest.

3. The finding of a jury, especially such a finding under a writ of inquiry. Bouvier. The justices in eyre had it formerly in charge to make inquisition concerning them by a jury of the county. Blackstone.

4. 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.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To make inquisistion concerning; to inquire into. [Obs.] Milton.