Inquiries

How to spell inquiries

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce inquiries

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inquiries mean?

1. nounActs of asking for information, or formal investigations into a matter.

Inquiries in a sentence

• The council received hundreds of inquiries about the new parking rules.

• Please direct all inquiries to the customer service desk.

Where does inquiries come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb quaerere, which literally meant 'to seek, search for, or ask'. With the prefix in- ('into'), Latin formed inquirere, meaning 'to search into' or 'to investigate'. The word travelled into English through Old French enquerre in the medieval period, which is why British writing still preserves the older 'enquiry' spelling alongside the more Latin-faithful 'inquiry'. Over time English settled 'inquiry' as the form closer to the original Latin root, and its plural became 'inquiries', dropping the y for ies in the usual way. The same quaerere root quietly powers a large family of relatives, including 'question', 'query', 'require', and 'acquire', so the hidden 'quir' is the spelling anchor worth remembering.

How the word is built

• in- (into)
• quir (from Latin quaerere: to seek, ask)
• -y (noun suffix)
• -ies (plural ending replacing -y)