- inquisition
- late 14c., "act or process of inquiring," from O.Fr. inquisition, from L. inquisitionem (nom. inquisitio) "a searching into, legal examination," from inquisitus, pp. of inquirere (see inquire). In Church history, inquisitors were appointed from 382 C.E. to root out heretics, and the Inquisition refers to the ecclesiastical court (Congregation of the Holy Office) appointed 13c. by Innocent III to suppress heresy. It never operated in Britain. The capital letter form appeared in English only after c.1500, and usually refers to the office's reorganization 1478-1483 in Spain as what is commonly called the Spanish Inquisition.