enquire
/ɛnˈkwaɪɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.91 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "He enquired about the availability of rental bicycles in the town."
- "Having thus at length enquired the truth concerning Law and dispense."
- "Thus prompts his accents and his actions still, / And all obey and few enquire his will; / To such, brief answer and contemptuous eye / Convey reproof, nor further deign reply."
Etymology
From Old French enquerre, from en- + querre (“to search, to look for”), from Latin quaerere, of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”).
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
- Root: enquerre, quaero, *kʷaizeō, *kʷeh₂-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɛnˈkwaɪɹ/
- British English: /ɛnˈkwaɪə/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
enquire after
enquire of