Etymology
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Recorded since circa 1510, a back-formation from investigation, from Latin investīgātiō (“a searching into”), from investīgātus, the past participle of investigare, equivalent to in- + vestigate. Displaced native Old English undersēċan (literally “to search under or between”).
Pronunciation
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investigate (third-person singular simple present investigates, present participle investigating, simple past and past participle investigated)
- (transitive) To inquire into or study in order to ascertain facts or information.
to investigate the causes of natural phenomena
- (transitive) To examine, look into, or scrutinize in order to discover something hidden or secret.
to investigate an unsolved murder
- (intransitive) To conduct an inquiry or examination.
1903, Jack London, The Shadow and the Flash:"Why don't you investigate?" he demanded. And investigate I did.
Synonyms
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Related terms
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Translations
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to inquire into, study
- Bulgarian: изследвам (bg) (izsledvam), проучвам (bg) (proučvam)
- Catalan: investigar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 調查／调查 (zh) (diàochá)
- Czech: zkoumat (cs)
- Danish: undersøge
- Dutch: onderzoeken (nl), bekijken (nl), bestuderen (nl), bestuderen (nl)
- Finnish: tutkia (fi)
- French: étudier (fr)
- Galician: investigar
- German: untersuchen (de), erforschen (de), recherchieren (de)
- Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌷𐍂𐌿𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌽 (andhruskan)
- Guaraní: kundaha
- Hungarian: megvizsgál (hu), vizsgál (hu), tanulmányoz (hu), kutat (hu)
- Indonesian: mengkaji (id), menyelidiki (id)
- Italian: investigare (it), indagare (it)
- Japanese: 調べる (ja) (しらべる, shiraberu), 調査する (ja) (ちょうさする, chōsa suru)
- Korean: 조사하다 (ko) (josahada)
- Latin: aspicio (la), investigo, indago, vestigo
- Malay: siasat (ms)
- Maori: whakatewhatewha, tūhura, mātai, mātaki, rangahau, tūhura, uiui (by questioning), ārohi,
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: undersøke (no)
- Occitan: investigar
- Polish: prowadzić dochodzenie
- Portuguese: investigar (pt)
- Romanian: investiga (ro)
- Russian: иссле́довать (ru) impf or pf (isslédovatʹ), рассле́довать (ru) impf or pf (rasslédovatʹ)
- Scottish Gaelic: rannsaich
- Spanish: investigar (es), pesquisar (es), indagar (es)
- Swahili: -chunguza (sw)
- Swedish: undersöka (sv)
- Telugu: పరిశీలించు (te) (pariśīliñcu)
- Thai: สืบ (th) (sʉ̀ʉp), สืบสวน (th) (sʉ̀ʉp-sǔuan), สำรวจ (th) (sǎm-rùuat)
- Walloon: studyî (wa)
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to examine
- Armenian: please add this translation if you can
- Basque: aztertu
- Bulgarian: разследвам (bg) (razsledvam)
- Catalan: investigar (ca)
- Czech: pátrat (cs)
- Danish: undersøge, efterforske (da)
- Dutch: onderzoeken (nl), een onderzoek instellen, uitzoeken (nl)
- Esperanto: enketi
- Finnish: tutkia (fi)
- French: enquêter (fr)
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: untersuchen (de)
- Greek: ερευνώ (el) (erevnó)
- Guaraní: kundaha
- Hungarian: kivizsgál (hu)
- Indonesian: menyelidiki (id)
- Italian: investigare (it)
- Japanese: 調べる (ja) (しらべる, shiraberu), 検査する (ja) (けんさする, kensa suru)
- Khmer: ពិរុទ្ធ (km) (pi’rut)
- Latin: aspicio (la), inquīrō (la)
- Malay: menyelidiki, mengkaji
- Maori: whakatewhatewha, tūhura
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: ettersøke
- Occitan: investigar
- Polish: badać (pl) impf, zbadać (pl) pf
- Portuguese: investigar (pt), examinar (pt)
- Russian: рассле́довать (ru) impf or pf (rasslédovatʹ), изуча́ть (ru) impf (izučátʹ), изучи́ть (ru) pf (izučítʹ)
- Scottish Gaelic: rannsaich
- Spanish: examinar (es), investigar (es), indagar (es)
- Swahili: -chunguza (sw)
- Swedish: undersöka (sv), utreda (sv)
- Telugu: పరిశీలించు (te) (pariśīliñcu)
- Thai: สืบสวน (th) (sʉ̀ʉp-sǔuan)
- Vietnamese: điều tra (vi)
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to conduct an inquiry or examination
Translations to be checked
Further reading
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- “investigate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “investigate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “investigate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
