Where does “inquisitiveness” come from?
Inquisitiveness comes from Middle English -nesse (forming abstract nouns) combined with Latin inquisitivus (given to inquiry), derived from inquisitus (sought out), the past participle of inquirere (to seek into), from quaerere (to seek) with the prefix in-.
inquisitiveness (English): The quality of being inquisitive; curiosity
Definitions
- The quality of being inquisitive; curiosity
Ancestry of “inquisitiveness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | inquisitive | Eager to acquire knowledge; Too curious; overly... |
| 2 | Old French | inquisitif | — |
| 3 | Latin | inquisitivus | — |
| 4 | Latin | inquisitus | inquired into; investigated, examined |
| 5 | Latin | inquiro | I seek after, search for, inquire into something;... |
| 6 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 7 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 8 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |