Inquisition
[ɪŋkwɪ'zɪʃ(ə)n] or [,ɪnkwɪ'zɪʃən]
Definition
(noun.) a severe interrogation (often violating the rights or privacy of individuals).
(noun.) a former tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church (1232-1820) created to discover and suppress heresy.
Edited by Aaron--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of inquiring; inquiry; search; examination; inspection; investigation.
(n.) Judicial inquiry; official examination; inquest.
(n.) The finding of a jury, especially such a finding under a writ of inquiry.
(n.) 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.
(v. t.) To make inquisistion concerning; to inquire into.
Typist: Melville
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Inquest, judicial inquiry.
Inputed by Deborah
Definition
n. an inquiring or searching for: investigation: judicial inquiry: a tribunal in the R.C. Church called also 'the Holy Office ' for the discovery repression and punishment of heresy unbelief and other offences against religion.—v.t. (Milt.) to investigate.—adjs. Inquisit′ional making inquiry: relating to the Inquisition: Inquis′itive searching into: apt to ask questions: curious.—adv. Inquis′itively.—ns. Inquis′itiveness; Inquis′itor one who inquires: an official inquirer: a member of the Court of Inquisition.—adj. Inquisitō′rial.—adv. Inquisitō′rially.—n. Inquis′itress an inquisitive woman.—adj. Inquisitū′rient (Milt.) inquisitorial.—Grand Inquisitor the chief in a Court of Inquisition.
Checked by Leon
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of an inquisition, bespeaks for you an endless round of trouble and great disappointment. If you are brought before an inquisition on a charge of wilfulness, you will be unable to defend yourself from malicious slander.
Editor: Myra
Examples
- There is a great difference between feeding parties to wild beasts and stirring up their finer feelings in an Inquisition. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Here even the Inquisition was restored. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- In all countries, a severe inquisition into the circumstances of private persons has been carefully avoided. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Galileo, although he was ill, went to Rome, and was placed on trial before the Inquisition. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- He was the life of the ship, the bloody-minded son of the Inquisition! Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Nothing is hidden from their inquisition, and their families mutely rule our city. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- It looked like a drawing of the Inquisition. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- It was this that brought him before the Inquisition and that branded him as a dangerous heretic, and it was this that placed him in the forefront of the world’s discoverers. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Rather than suffer the pains of the Inquisition he agreed, and made his solemn declaration. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Galileo’s teachings were pointed out as dangerous to the teachings of the Church, and the officers of the Inquisition began to consider how they might best deal with him. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- They were paying for the Inquisition now, all right. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The Inquisition did its work ruthlessly. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- It is a great pity the playful Inquisition is no more. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Whether he said this or not there can be no doubt but that the great astronomer knew the performance was a farce, and that the world did move in spite of all the Inquisition could declare. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- He does in wars, in racial and religious persecutions; he did in the Spain of the Inquisition; he does in the American lynching. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The idea of riding all day long over such ghastly inquisitions of torture is sickening. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- I think God will forgive us our skepticism sooner than our Inquisitions. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Edited by Hamilton