different between inquire vs beg

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

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /b??/
• Rhymes: -??

Etymology 1

From Middle English beggen, assimilation from Old English *becgan, *bedcan, *bedican, syncopated variants of bedecian (“to beg”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *bedagô (“petitioner; requestor; beggar”), from *bed?, *bed? (“prayer; request”). Related to North Frisian b?dagi (“to pray”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (bidagwa, “beggar”), Old English biddan (“to ask”). More at bid, bead. See Norwegian Bokmål be (“beg, ask”).

Verb

beg (third-person singular simple present begs, present participle begging, simple past and past participle begged)

1. (intransitive) To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.

2. (transitive) To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.

   Synonym: supplicate

   • [Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 5

     But that same day came Sam Tewkesbury to the Why Not? about nightfall, and begged a glass of rum, being, as he said, 'all of a shake' [...]

3. (transitive) In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
4. (transitive, proscribed) In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).

   Antonym: set aside

5. (transitive, law, obsolete) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
   • a. 1612, John Harington, Epigrams

     Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.

Usage notes

This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

• beg the question
• beg to differ
• go begging
• soft begging

Translations

Noun

beg (plural begs)

1. The act of begging; an imploring request.

See also

• beggar

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish ??? (beg).

Noun

beg (plural begs)

2. A provincial governor under the Ottoman Empire; a bey.

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

beg

1. (knitting) Abbreviation of beginning.
   • 2005, DRG Dynamic Resource, House of White Birches, Big Book of Knit Hats & Scarves for Everyone (page 34)

     Knit with MC until work measures 3 inches from beg.

Further reading

• beg on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• GBE, GEB, Gbe, Geb, bge

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish ??? (beg).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?x/
• Hyphenation: beg

Noun

beg m (plural begs)

1. (historical) Alternative form of bei.

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from English bag.

Noun

beg (Jawi spelling ???)

1. bag

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish bec, from Proto-Celtic *bikkos (“small”).

Adjective

beg (plural beggey, comparative loo, superlative sloo)

1. small

Mutation

References

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “bec”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

borrowed from Ottoman Turkish ??? (“ruler”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bê?/

Noun

b?g m (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. (regional) master, lord

Declension

Derived terms

• bekstvo
• bežanje
• prebeg

References

• “beg” in Hrvatski jezi?ni portal

Slovene

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *b?g?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bé?k/

Noun

b??g m inan

1. run
2. getaway
3. escape
4. withdrawal
5. (phrase) flight

Inflection

Etymology 2

From Turkish bey.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bé?k/

Noun

b??g m anim

1. bey (Turkish governor)

Inflection

Further reading

• “beg”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from English beg.

Noun

beg (nominative plural begs)

1. request, an action of begging

Declension

Zhuang

Etymology

From Chinese ? (MC b?æk?).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /pe?k?/
• Tone numbers: beg⁸
• Hyphenation: beg

Adjective

beg (Sawndip form ?, old orthography beg)

1. (bound) white

Adverb

beg (Sawndip form ?, old orthography beg)

1. in vain; for nothing
2. for free; free of charge