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: aztertu
• 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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “investigate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• investigate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

investigate

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

Etymology 2

Participle

investigate f pl

1. feminine plural of investigato

Latin

Verb

investīgāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of investīgō

Spanish

Verb

investigate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of investigar combined with te