Questioning

How to spell questioning

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce questioning

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does questioning mean?

1. verbAsking someone questions, especially in a formal or persistent way to gather information.
2. nounThe process or activity of asking questions or expressing doubt.
3. adjectiveExpressing doubt, curiosity, or a desire to know more.

Questioning in a sentence

• verb

  The detectives were questioning the witness late into the night.

• noun

  The suspect was released after several hours of questioning.

• adjective

  She gave the salesman a questioning glance before signing anything.

• verb

  The auditor spent the morning questioning staff about the missing receipts.

• noun

  Close questioning of the figures revealed the accounting error.

• adjective

  The report was praised for its questioning tone about the official figures.

Where does questioning come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb quaerere, meaning 'to seek, to ask, or to inquire'. From its past participle quaesitum came the noun quaestio, an act of seeking or, in Roman legal life, a formal judicial inquiry or interrogation. The word travelled into English through Old French question during the 1200s, keeping that sense of asking and examining. English then added its own native ending -ing to form 'questioning', the ongoing act of asking or the attitude of doubt. The very same quaerere root sits behind a family of relatives such as 'inquire', 'request', 'conquest', and 'inquest', all of which carry the idea of seeking something out. The silent middle of the spelling, the -tion- becoming the 'chun' sound, is the usual trap, since the letters do not match the way the word is spoken.

How the word is built

• quest (from Latin quaerere, to seek or ask)
• -ion (noun suffix)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)