Queries

How to spell queries

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce queries

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does queries mean?

1. nounQuestions, especially ones asked to clear up a doubt or request information.
2. verbAsks about or expresses doubt regarding something, as a third person does.

Queries in a sentence

• noun

  The support team answered all of my queries within an hour.

• verb

  She always queries the figures before signing off the report.

• noun

  Please send any queries about the invoice to the accounts department.

• verb

  He queries every charge that appears on his bank statement.

Where does queries come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb quaerere, meaning 'to ask', 'to seek', or 'to inquire'. The singular 'query' came directly from quaere, the imperative form of that verb, which literally meant 'ask!' or 'seek!' and was once jotted in the margins of documents to flag a point that needed checking. English adopted the word in the early 1600s, initially spelling it 'quaere' in keeping with the Latin before it settled into the modern 'query'. The same quaerere root gave us a whole family of relatives, including 'question', 'inquire', 'require', and 'quest'. When the word is pluralised or used as a present-tense verb, the final 'y' turns to 'i' before the ending, producing 'queries' rather than 'querys', which is the small spelling rule worth remembering.

How the word is built

• quer- (from Latin quaerere: to ask, to seek)
• -y (noun/verb base)
• -es (plural noun or third-person singular verb suffix)