Interrogation

How to spell interrogation

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce interrogation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does interrogation mean?

1. nounThe act of questioning someone closely or formally, often by police or investigators.

Interrogation in a sentence

• The suspect remained silent throughout the interrogation.

• Detectives prepared a list of questions before the interrogation began.

Where does interrogation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin interrogatio, the noun built on the verb interrogare, meaning 'to question' or 'to ask between'. That verb joins inter, meaning 'between' or 'among', with rogare, meaning 'to ask' or 'to request', so the literal sense was a back-and-forth of asking. English took the word in during the 1400s, partly through Old French interrogacion, and used it from the start for formal or searching questioning rather than casual chat. The same rogare root sits inside several familiar relatives, including 'rogation' and 'derogatory', and it is the reason a question mark was once called a 'point of interrogation'. The spelling trap is the doubled r, which survives directly from the Latin inter- plus rog- joint, even though only one r is sounded clearly.

How the word is built

• inter- (between)
• rog (ask, from Latin rogare)
• -ation (noun-forming suffix)