The Etymology of Inquiry
English has an unusually rich family of 'seeking' words, and they all trace back to one Latin verb: quaerere (to seek). From it came inquirere (to seek into), which passed through Old French enquerre into Middle English as enquirie. The root quaerere also generated 'question' (a thing sought), 'quest' (a seeking), 'acquire' (to seek toward), 'require' (to seek back), and 'exquisite' (sought out, hence choice or refined). The peculiar spelling split between 'inquiry' and 'enquiry' is a 17th-century development. Some British style guides maintain that 'enquiry' is for everyday questions while 'inquiry' is reserved for formal investigations — a public inquiry, a parliamentary inquiry. In practice, this distinction is inconsistent even within British English, and American English settled the matter by adopting 'inquiry' exclusively. The formal sense of the word gained particular weight in British legal and political culture, where a 'public inquiry' carries the authority of a judge-led investigation, often lasting years and costing millions.