examine

See also: examiné

English

Alternative forms

• examin (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English examinen, examenen, from Old French examiner, from Latin exāmināre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪɡˈzæmɪn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ex‧am‧ine

Verb

examine (third-person singular simple present examines, present participle examining, simple past and past participle examined)

1. To observe or inspect carefully or critically.

   He examined the crime scene for clues.

   She examined the hair sample under a microscope.

   • 1979, Ashford & Simpson, “Nobody Knows”, in Stay Free (album):

     Well, nobody knows about the little things / Nobody knows what they really mean / Nobody ever wants to take the time / To examine what's on your mind

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

     With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]

   • 2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America‎^[1], archived from the original on 7 February 2019:

     The new study examines development activities for different AI technologies worldwide.

2. To check the health or condition of something or someone.

   The doctor examined the patient.

3. To determine the aptitude, skills or qualifications of someone by subjecting them to an examination.
4. To interrogate.

   The witness was examined under oath.

Synonyms

• pore over, undersee

Hyponyms

• cross examine
• re-examine

Derived terms

• cross-examine
• examinability
• examinable
• examinee
• examiner
• examinership
• examiningly
• overexamined
• preexamine
• reexamine
• re-examine
• underexamined
• unexamined

Related terms

• exam
• examen
• examinant
• examinate
• examination
• examinator
• examinatorial

Translations

to observe or inspect carefully or critically

• Arabic: فَحَصَ (ar) (faḥaṣa), اِمْتَحَنَ (imtaḥana)

  Egyptian Arabic: امتحن (imtaḥan)

• Armenian: քննել (hy) (kʻnnel), զննել (hy) (znnel)
• Belarusian: агляда́ць impf (ahljadácʹ), агле́дзець pf (ahljédzjecʹ)
• Bulgarian: изсле́двам (bg) impf (izslédvam), проу́чвам (bg) impf (proúčvam), проу́ча pf (proúča)
• Catalan: examinar (ca)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎪᎵᏰᎠ (agoliyea)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 检查 (zh) (jiǎnchá), 调查 (zh) (diàochá)

• Danish: undersøge
• Dutch: onderzoeken (nl)
• Esperanto: ekzameni
• Finnish: tutkia (fi), tarkastella (fi)
• French: examiner (fr)
• Galician: examinar (gl)
• Georgian: გამოიკვლევს (gamoiḳvlevs), იკვლევს (iḳvlevs)
• German: untersuchen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: σκέπτομαι (sképtomai)

• Haitian Creole: egzamine
• Hungarian: megvizsgál (hu), górcső alá vesz (hu), vizsgál (hu), kivizsgál (hu), bevizsgál (hu), ellenőriz (hu), átvizsgál (hu), tanulmányoz (hu)
• Italian: esaminare (it)
• Japanese: 調べる (ja) (しらべる, shiraberu)
• Kaingang: tugnỹm sg, tugnỹgnỹm pl
• Khiamniungan Naga: thó
• Korean: 검사하다 (ko) (geomsahada), 조사하다 (ko) (josahada)
• Latin: scīscitor, speculor, scrūtor, aspiciō (la), dispectō, īnspiciō
• Macedonian: и́спита (íspita), про́учи (próuči)
• Malayalam: പരിശോധിക്കുക (ml) (pariśōdhikkuka)
• Maori: matawai, whakatare, whakataretare
• Nepali: जाँच्नु (jā̃cnu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: undersøke (no)

• Occitan: examinar (oc)
• Old English: fandian
• Persian: معاینه کردن (mo'âyene kardan)
• Portuguese: examinar (pt), analisar (pt)
• Russian: осма́тривать (ru) impf (osmátrivatʹ), осмотре́ть (ru) pf (osmotrétʹ)
• Sanskrit: परीक्षते (parīkṣate)
• Slovak: skúmať impf, preskúmať pf
• Spanish: examinar (es), analizar (es)
• Swahili: -kagua (sw)
• Swedish: observera (sv), undersöka (sv)
• Turkish: muayene etmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: огляда́ти (uk) impf (ohljadáty), огля́нути pf (ohljánuty), огле́діти pf (ohlédity), огля́діти pf (ohljádity)

to check the health or condition of something or someone

• Armenian: զննել (hy) (znnel)
• Bulgarian: прегле́ждам (bg) impf (pregléždam), прегле́дам pf (preglédam)
• Czech: vyšetřovat (cs) impf, vyšetřit pf
• Finnish: tutkia (fi)
• French: examiner (fr)
• Georgian: გამოიკვლევს (gamoiḳvlevs)
• German: untersuchen (de)
• Hungarian: vizsgál (hu), megvizsgál (hu)
• Japanese: 診察する (ja) (しんさつする, shinsatsu suru)
• Latin: scīscitor
• Macedonian: пре́гледа (prégleda)
• Malayalam: പരിശോധിക്കുക (ml) (pariśōdhikkuka)
• Nepali: जाँच्नु (jā̃cnu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: undersøke (no)

• Polish: badać (pl) impf, zbadać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: examinar (pt)
• Russian: осма́тривать (ru) impf (osmátrivatʹ), осмотре́ть (ru) pf (osmotrétʹ)
• Slovak: vyšetrovať impf, vyšetriť pf
• Spanish: auscultar (es)
• Swahili: -kagua (sw)
• Swedish: undersöka (sv)
• Ukrainian: огляда́ти (uk) impf (ohljadáty), огля́нути pf (ohljánuty), огле́діти pf (ohlédity), огля́діти pf (ohljádity), обсте́жувати impf (obstéžuvaty), обсте́жити pf (obstéžyty)

to determine the aptitude, skills or qualifications of someone by subjecting them to an examination

• Bulgarian: изпи́твам (bg) impf (izpítvam)
• Czech: zkoušet (cs) impf, vyzkoušet (cs) pf
• Dutch: examineren (nl)
• Georgian: ცდის (cdis)
• German: untersuchen (de), prüfen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: δοκιμάζω (dokimázō)

• Hungarian: vizsgáztat (hu)
• Japanese: 検査する (ja) (けんさする, kensa suru)
• Latin: scīscitor
• Macedonian: и́спита (íspita)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eksaminere

• Portuguese: examinar (pt), testar (pt)
• Russian: испы́тывать (ru) impf (ispýtyvatʹ), испыта́ть (ru) pf (ispytátʹ)
• Slovak: skúšať impf, vyskúšať pf
• Spanish: examinar (es)
• Swahili: -tahini
• Swedish: undersöka (sv)
• Ukrainian: випро́бувати impf (vypróbuvaty), ви́пробувати pf (výprobuvaty)

to interrogate

• Belarusian: дапы́тваць impf (dapýtvacʹ), дапыта́ць pf (dapytácʹ)
• Bulgarian: разпи́твам (bg) impf (razpítvam), разпи́там pf (razpítam)
• Finnish: kuulustella (fi)
• Georgian: დაკითხავს (daḳitxavs)
• German: befragen (de)
• Hungarian: kihallgat (hu)
• Japanese: 尋問する (ja) (じんもんする, jinmon suru)
• Latin: scīscitor
• Macedonian: ра́спита (ráspita), со́слуша (sósluša), и́спраша (íspraša)
• Persian: بازجویی کردن (bâzjui kardan), بازجستن (bâz-jostan) (rare)
• Portuguese: interrogar
• Russian: допра́шивать (ru) impf (doprášivatʹ), допроси́ть (ru) pf (doprosítʹ)
• Slovak: vypočúvať impf, vypočuť pf
• Swahili: -hoji (sw)
• Swedish: fråga ut (sv), förhöra (sv)
• Thai: ไต่สวน (th) (dtài-sǔuan)
• Ukrainian: допи́тувати impf (dopýtuvaty), допита́ти pf (dopytáty)

See also

• look at

Noun

examine (plural examines)

1. (informal) An act of examining.
   • 2014, J. David Simons, The Liberation of Celia Kahn:

     Soutar scratched the back of his neck then had a quick examine of his nails. Deep-ingrained purple they were.

French

Verb

examine

1. inflection of examiner:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Noun

exāmine

1. ablative singular of exāmen

Portuguese

Verb

examine

1. inflection of examinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɡsaˈmine/ [eɣ̞.saˈmi.ne]
• Rhymes: -ine
• Syllabification: e‧xa‧mi‧ne

Verb

examine

1. inflection of examinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative