Inspector

How to spell inspector

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce inspector

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inspector mean?

1. nounAn official who examines something to check that standards, rules, or laws are being met.

Inspector in a sentence

• The health and safety inspector visited the restaurant on Monday.

• A police inspector reviewed the evidence before the trial.

Where does inspector come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb inspicere, meaning 'to look into' or 'to examine closely', formed from the prefix in- 'into' and specere 'to look at'. The agent noun inspector developed from inspectus, the past participle of that verb, and described someone who carries out the looking and checking. English adopted it in the early 1600s, initially for an overseer or one who examines, and it later attached to official roles such as a police rank and a quality checker. The same specere root sits inside a whole family of familiar words, including spectator, inspect, prospect, and respect, all of which involve looking in some way. Remembering that the ending is -or rather than -er helps, since the word follows the Latin agent pattern rather than the native English one.

How the word is built

• in- (into)
• spect (look)
• -or (one who does)