investigate

investigate

English

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): [ɪn.ˈvɛs.tɪ.ɡeɪ̯t]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

investigate (third-person singular simple present investigates, present participle investigating, simple past and past participle investigated)

1. (transitive) To inquire into or study in order to ascertain facts or information.

   to investigate the causes of natural phenomena

2. (transitive) To examine, look into, or scrutinize in order to discover something hidden or secret.

   to investigate an unsolved murder

3. (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

• underseek

Related terms

• investigability
• investigable
• investigation
• investigational
• investigative
• investigator
• investigatory

 

Translations

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) 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) (pariSeelinchu) Walloon: studyî (wa)

to examine

Armenian: please add this translation if you can Basque: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: разследвам (bg) (razsledvam) Catalan: investigar (ca) Czech: pátrat (cs) 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) (pariSeelinchu) Thai: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: điều tra (vi)

to conduct an inquiry or examination

Bulgarian: разследвам (bg) (razsledvam) Catalan: investigar (ca) Czech: vyšetřovat (cs) Dutch: een onderzoek voeren Finnish: tutkia (fi), selvittää (fi) French: enquêter (fr) German: ermitteln (de) Hungarian: nyomoz (hu) Italian: investigare (it), indagare (it) Latin: aspicio (la) Malay: mengkaji Navajo: naʼałkaah Occitan: investigar Portuguese: investigar (pt) Russian: рассле́довать (ru) impf or pf (rasslédovatʹ) Scottish Gaelic: rannsaich Spanish: pesquisar (es), investigar (es) Swahili: -chunguza (sw) Swedish: utreda (sv) Walloon: inketer

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) rechercher (fr) Korean: (please verify) 조사하다 (ko) (josahada)

Further reading

• investigate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• investigate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• investigate at OneLook Dictionary Search

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Italian

Verb

investigate

1. inflection of investigare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Participle

investigate f pl

1. feminine plural of investigato

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Latin

Verb

investīgāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of investīgō