inquest [ME] Inquest is from Latin inquirere ‘to ask for information’. English words that come from inquirere often have spellings with either en- or in-, with en- representing the older form acquired through French and in- a return to the Latin root. This is the case, for instance, with enquire [ME] or inquire [LME], enquiry [LME] or inquiry [M16th], and used to apply to inquest, although the spelling enquest has not been used since the 18th century. In Britain an inquest is now usually an inquiry by a coroner’s court into the cause of a death; formerly it could be any official inquiry into a matter of public interest.

Another word from Latin inquirere is inquisition [LME]. In the mid 13th century Pope Gregory IX established a tribunal for the suppression of heresy. This was the first Inquisition, which was active chiefly in northern Italy and southern France, and became notorious for the use of torture. In 1478 the Spanish Inquisition began to target converts from Judaism and Islam, later extending its reach to Protestants. It operated with great severity and was not suppressed until the early 19th century. Originally in English an inquisition was simply an inquiry, with very much the same sense that inquest then had.