different between debate vs inquiry

English

Etymology

From Old French debatre (“to fight, contend, debate, also literally to beat down”), from Romanic desbattere, from Latin dis- (“apart, in different directions”) + battuere (“to beat, to fence”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??be?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t

Noun

debate (countable and uncountable, plural debates)

1. An argument, or discussion, usually in an ordered or formal setting, often with more than two people, generally ending with a vote or other decision.

2. An informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.
3. (uncountable) Discussion of opposing views.
4. (frequently in the French form débat) A type of literary composition, taking the form of a discussion or disputation, commonly found in the vernacular medieval poetry of many European countries, as well as in medieval Latin.
5. (obsolete) Strife, discord.

Translations

Verb

debate (third-person singular simple present debates, present participle debating, simple past and past participle debated)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena. [from 14th c.]
   • August 11, 1709, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym for Richard Steele or (in some later numbers of the journal) Joseph Addison), The Tatler No. 53

     He presents that great soul debating upon the subject of life and death with his intimate friends.

2. (obsolete, intransitive) To fight. [14th-17th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:

     Well knew they both his person, sith of late / With him in bloudie armes they rashly did debate.

   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 15:

     ... wasteful Time debateth with Decay,

     To change your day of youth to sullied night

3. (obsolete, transitive) To engage in combat for; to strive for.
   • 1838, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic

     Volunteers […] thronged to serve under his banner, and the cause of religion was debated with the same ardour in Spain as on the plains of Palestine.

4. (transitive) To consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide

Derived terms

• debater

Related terms

• debatable
• debation

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• beated, bed tea, bed-tea, betaed

Albanian

Noun

debate m pl

1. indefinite plural of debat

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.?ba.t?i/

Noun

debate m (plural debates)

1. debate

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:debate.

Verb

debate

1. third-person singular present indicative of debater
2. second-person singular imperative of debater

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:debate.

Spanish

Noun

debate m (plural debates)

1. debate, discussion

Related terms

• debatir

Verb

debate

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of debatir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of debatir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of debatir.

English

Alternative forms

• enquiry

Etymology

From Middle English enquery, from the Old French verb enquerre, from Latin inqu?r?. Later respelled to conform to the original Latin spelling, as opposed to the Old French spelling.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?kwa???i/, /??-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?kwa?(?)?i/, /??nkw??i/, /???-/
• Hyphenation: in?qui?ry
• Rhymes: -a??ri

Noun

inquiry (countable and uncountable, plural inquiries)

1. The act of inquiring; a seeking of information by asking questions; interrogation; a question or questioning.
2. Search for truth, information, or knowledge; examination of facts or principles; research; investigation

Derived terms

• line of inquiry

Usage notes

According to Fowler's Modern English Usage (1926), inquiry should be used in relation to a formal inquest, and enquiry to the act of questioning. Many (though not all) British writers maintain this distinction; the Oxford English Dictionary, in its entry not updated since 1900, lists inquiry and enquiry as equal alternatives, in that order. Some British dictionaries, such as Chambers 21st Century Dictionary [1], present the two spellings as interchangeable variants in the general sense, but prefer inquiry for the "formal inquest" sense. In Australian English, inquiry represents a formal inquest (such as a government investigation) while enquiry is used in the act of questioning (eg: the customer enquired about the status of his loan application). Both spellings are current in Canadian English, where enquiry is often associated with scholarly or intellectual research. (See Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage, p. 282.)

American English usually uses inquiry.

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “inquiry”, in Online Etymology Dictionary