different between expect vs inquire

English

Alternative forms

• axpact, ax-pact (Bermuda)

Etymology

From Latin expect?re, infinitive form of exspect? (“look out for, await, expect”), from ex (“out”) + spect? (“look at”), frequentative of speci? (“see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?sp?kt/, /?k?sp?kt/
• Hyphenation: ex?pect
• Rhymes: -?kt

Verb

expect (third-person singular simple present expects, present participle expecting, simple past and past participle expected)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To predict or believe that something will happen

   Synonyms: anticipate, hope, look for

   • 2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns

     And temperatures are expected to keep rising.

2. To consider obligatory or required.

   Synonyms: call for, demand

   • 1805, Nelson, Horatio via Pasco, John, signal sent at the Battle of Trafalgar:

     England expects that every man will do his duty.

3. To consider reasonably due.

   Synonyms: hope, want, wish

4. (continuous aspect only, of a woman or couple) To be pregnant, to consider a baby due.
   • 2011, Eva Fischer-Dixon, The Bestseller

     “You are pregnant?” he asked with shock in his voice. “Yes, Justin, I am expecting a child,”

5. (obsolete, transitive) To wait for; to await.

   Synonyms: await; see also Thesaurus:wait for

   • 1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman, A. and C. Black (1868), 24-25:

     The knight fixed his eyes on the opening with breathless anxiety, and continuing to kneel in the attitude of devotion which the place and scene required, expected the consequence of these preparations.

6. (obsolete, intransitive) To wait; to stay.

   Synonym: wait

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sandys to this entry?)

Usage notes

• Expect is a mental act and mostly has a reference to the future, to some forthcoming event (e.g. a person expects to die, or he expects to survive). Think and believe may have reference to the past and present, as well as to the future (e.g. I think the mail has arrived; I believe he came home yesterday, that he is at home now). There is a not uncommon use of expect, which is a confusion of the two (e.g. I expect the mail has arrived; I expect he is at home). Await is a physical or moral act. We await something which, when it comes, will affect us personally. We expect what may, or may not, interest us personally. See also anticipate.
• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• except

English

Alternative forms

• enquire (chiefly British)

Etymology

From Latin inqu?r? (“to seek for”). Displaced Middle English enqueren (from Old French enquerre, of the same source) and native Middle English speir (“ask, inquire”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?kwa??/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?kwa??/
• Rhymes: -a??(?)
• Hyphenation: in?quire

Verb

inquire (third-person singular simple present inquires, present participle inquiring, simple past and past participle inquired) (transitive, intransitive)

1. (intransitive, US) To ask (about something).

   • "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. […] A strong man—a strong one; and a heedless." ¶ "Of what party is he?" she inquired, as though casually.

2. (intransitive) To make an inquiry or an investigation.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To call; to name.

Usage notes

• In British English, the spelling enquire is more common, with inquire often reserved for official inquests. In Canada and the US, both spellings are acceptable, though inquire is favored. In Australian English, inquire is preferred in all contexts.

Synonyms

• frain (dialect or obsolete)

Derived terms

• inquire after
• inquire of

Related terms

• inquiry
• query

Translations

See also

• inquest
• inquisition
• inquisitive
• inquisitor

Latin

Verb

inqu?re

1. second-person singular present active imperative of inqu?r?

Portuguese

Verb

inquire

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