Investigate

English

Verb

Investigate (third-person singular simple present Investigates, present participle investigating, simple past and past participle investigated)

1. (transitive) To inquire into or study in order to ascertain facts or information.
2. (transitive) To examine, look into, or scrutinize in order to discover something hidden or secret.
3. (intransitive) To conduct an inquiry or examination.
   • 1903, Jack London, "The Shadow and the Flash,"

     "Why don't you investigate?" he demanded. And investigate I did.

Related terms

Terms related to "investigate"

investigability investigable investigation investigational

investigative investigator investigatory

Adverbs for Investigate

promptly; personally; intensively; duly; vigorously; anatomically; tediously; assiduously; tranquilly; legislatively; analytically; diligently; intellectually; comprehensively; judicially; conclusively; abstractly; inquisitively; physiologically; methodically; aimlessly.

Thesaurus

air, analyze, canvass, comment upon, consider, controvert, deal with, debate, deliberate, deliberate upon, delve into, dig into, discourse about, discuss, examine, exchange views, explore, fathom, go, go into, handle, indagate, inquire into, knock around, look into, pass under review, peer into, plumb, poke into, probe, pry, pry into, rap, reason, reason about, reason the point, research, review, scrutinize, search into, sift, sound, study, take up, talk, talk about, talk of, talk over, thresh out, treat, ventilate, winnow

Etymology

Recorded since circa 1510, a back-formation from investigation, from Latin investigatio "a searching into", from investigatus, the past participle of investigare, itself from in- "in(to)" + vestigare "to track, trace" (from vestigium "footprint, track", of unknown origin)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈves.tɪ.ɡeɪt/, SAMPA: /In"vEs.tI.gEIt/

• Audio (US)

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Translations

to inquire into, study

Catalan: investigar (ca) Czech: zkoumat (cs) Dutch: onderzoeken (nl), bekijken (nl), bestuderen (nl) French: étudier (fr) German: untersuchen, erforschen, recherchieren Italian: investigare (it)

Japanese: 調べる (しらべる, shiraberu), 調査する (ちょうさする, chōsasuru) Polish: prowadzić dochodzenie Scottish Gaelic: rannsaich (gd) Swahili: ukale (sw), chunguza (sw) Telugu: పరిశీలించు (te) (pariSeelinchu)

to examine

Catalan: investigar (ca) Czech: pátrat (cs) Dutch: onderzoeken, een onderzoek instellen, uitzoeken German: untersuchen (de) Italian: investigare (it) Japanese: 調べる (しらべる, shiraberu), 検査する (けんさする, kensasuru)

Polish: badać (pl) Scottish Gaelic: rannsaich (gd) Spanish: examinar (es) Swahili: ukale (sw), chunguza (sw) Telugu: పరిశీలించు (te) (pariSeelinchu)

to conduct an inquiry or examination

Catalan: investigar (ca) Czech: vyšetřovat (cs) Dutch: een onderzoek voeren

Italian: investigare (it) Scottish Gaelic: rannsaich (gd) Swahili: ukale (sw), chunguza (sw)

The translations below need to be checked.

Translations to be checked

French: enquêter, rechercher

Korean: 조사하다

External links

• Investigate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Investigate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• Investigate at OneLook Dictionary Search

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Italian

Verb

investigate

1. second-person plural present indicative of investigare
2. second-person plural imperative of investigare
3. Feminine plural of investigato

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Latin

Verb

investīgāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of investīgō