inquire

• enquire (chiefly British)

From Latin inquīrō (“to seek for”), composed of in- (“in, at, on; into”) + quaerō (“I seek, look for”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). Displaced Middle English enqueren (from Old French enquerre, of the same source) and native Middle English speir (“ask, inquire”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkwaɪɹ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkwaɪə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: in‧quire

inquire (third-person singular simple present inquires, present participle inquiring, simple past and past participle inquired) (transitive, intransitive)

1. (intransitive, US) To ask (about something).
   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314:

     "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. […] A strong man—a strong one; and a heedless." ¶ "Of what party is he?" she inquired, as though casually.

2. (intransitive) To make an inquiry or an investigation.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To call; to name.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, stanza 12:

     Canute had his portion from the rest, The which he cald Canutium, for his hyre, Now Cantium, which Kent we commenly inquire.

• In British English, the spelling enquire is more common, with inquire often reserved for official inquests. In Canada and the US, both spellings are acceptable, though inquire is favored. In Australian English, inquire is preferred in all contexts.

• frain (dialect or obsolete)

• inquire after
• inquire of

• inquiry
• query

• inquest
• inquisition
• inquisitive
• inquisitor

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /inˈkʷiː.re/, [ɪŋˈkʷiːrɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /inˈkwi.re/, [iŋˈkwiːre]

inquīre

1. second-person singular present active imperative of inquīrō

• Hyphenation: in‧qui‧re

inquire

1. inflection of inquirir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative