Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: French
Origin: Latin inquirere; INQUIRE

inquisition

 noun
     
in‧qui‧si‧tion
1

the Inquisition

RRC a Roman Catholic organization in the past whose aim was to find and punish people who had unacceptable religious beliefs
2 [countable usually singular] a series of questions that someone asks you in a threatening or unpleasant way:
I had to face a two-hour inquisition from my parents about where I'd been.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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