Where does “inquisitive” come from?
Inquisitive comes from Old French inquisitif, from Latin inquisitivus, derived from inquisitus, the past participle of inquirere meaning to inquire or seek out.
inquisitive (English): Eager to acquire knowledge; Too curious; overly...
Definitions
- Eager to acquire knowledge; Too curious; overly...
Ancestry of “inquisitive”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | inquisitif | — |
| 2 | Latin | inquisitivus | — |
| 3 | Latin | inquisitus | inquired into; investigated, examined |
| 4 | Latin | inquiro | I seek after, search for, inquire into something;... |
| 5 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 6 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 7 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |