investigator

English

Etymology

Attested in the mid‐16th century; from Latin investigator, from investigare, equivalent to investigate +‎ -or.

Noun

investigator (plural investigators)

1. One who investigates.

   Synonyms: detective, dick, gumshoe, (obsolete) indagator, private eye, sleuth

   • 2022 October 4, Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand, “Secret recording played at trial shows Oath Keepers allegedly planning for violence in DC”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     That the Oath Keepers recording went uninvestigated by the FBI until after January 6 is an “additional piece of information that congressional investigators in particular on the January 6th committee and the other Homeland Security committees should be looking at to determine whether or not the FBI and other law enforcement organizations were doing enough on the prevention side,” Cordero told CNN’s Ana Cabrera on Tuesday.

   • 2024 March 11, Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand and Paula Reid, “Capitol Hill hearing puts Robert Hur, investigator behind Biden classified documents probe, back in the spotlight”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     Over the past year, Hur was tasked with investigating classified documents found at Biden’s home and private office from his time as vice president. Hur was seen as a meticulous investigator during the probe, sources told CNN.

Hyponyms

• principal investigator

Derived terms

• coinvestigator
• cyberinvestigator
• investigatress
• principal investigator
• private investigator
• subinvestigator

Related terms

• investigatrix (feminine)
• reinvestigator

Translations

one who investigates

• Armenian: հետազոտող (hetazotoġ), ուսումնասիրող (usumnasiroġ), քննիչ (hy) (kʻnničʻ)
• Azerbaijani: müstəntiq
• Basque: ikerlari (eu), ikertzaile (eu), aztertzaile
• Belarusian: сле́дчы m (sljédčy), сле́дчая f (sljédčaja), сьле́дчы m (sʹljédčy) (Taraškievica), сьле́дчая f (sʹljédčaja) (Taraškievica)
• Bulgarian: сле́довател (bg) m (slédovatel), сле́дователка f (slédovatelka), изсле́довател m (izslédovatel), изсле́дователка f (izslédovatelka)
• Catalan: investigador (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 調查者 / 调查者 (zh) (diàocházhě)

• Czech: vyšetřovatel (cs) m, vyšetřovatelka f
• Dutch: onderzoeker (nl) m
• Finnish: tutkija (fi), selvittäjä (fi), selvitysmies
• French: enquêteur (fr) m, enquêtrice (fr) f, investigateur (fr)
• Galician: investigador (gl) m
• German: Ermittler (de) m, Ermittlerin (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 n (sōkareis)
• Hungarian: nyomozó (hu)
• Indonesian: penyidik (id)
• Japanese: 捜査員 (そうさいん, sōsain)
• Khmer: វិចារកៈ (km) (vicaaraʼkaʼ)
• Korean: 수사관(搜査官) (ko) (susagwan), 조사관(調査管) (josagwan)
• Latin: inquīsītor m, indāgātor m, indāgātrix f, investīgātor m
• Macedonian: истра́жител m (istrážitel), и́следник m (íslednik), истра́жувач m (istrážuvač)
• Malay: penyiasat
• Maori: kaimātai, kaitūhura, kairapuhara (refers to criminal investigations.)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etterforsker m

• Persian: کاراگاه (kârâgâh)
• Portuguese: investigador (pt) m, investigadora f
• Romanian: investigator (ro) m, anchetator (ro) m
• Russian: (criminal investigator) сле́дователь (ru) m (slédovatelʹ), сле́довательница (ru) f (slédovatelʹnica), рассле́дователь (ru) m (rasslédovatelʹ), рассле́довательница (ru) f (rasslédovatelʹnica)
• Slovak: vyšetrovateľ m, vyšetrovateľka f
• Spanish: investigador (es) m, investigadora (es) f
• Swahili: mchunguzi (sw)
• Swedish: utredare (sv) c
• Thai: ผู้สอบสวน
• Turkish: araştırıcı (tr), araştırmacı (tr), soruşturmacı (tr)
• Ukrainian: слі́дчий m (slídčyj), слі́дча f (slídča)

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “investigator”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “investigator”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “investigator”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Latin

Etymology 1

From investīgō +‎ -tor.

Noun

investīgātor m (genitive investīgātōris, feminine investīgātrīx); third declension

1. investigator, researcher

   Synonym: indāgātor

   • 2018, Tuomo Pekkanen, Nova formicae species [3], Nuntii Latini 27.4.2018:

     Grex investigatorum in Borneo novam formicae speciem invenit, quae se explodendo communitatem suam defendit.

     A group of researchers in Borneo has found a new species of ant which defends its nest by exploding.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	investīgātor	investīgātōrēs
genitive	investīgātōris	investīgātōrum
dative	investīgātōrī	investīgātōribus
accusative	investīgātōrem	investīgātōrēs
ablative	investīgātōre	investīgātōribus
vocative	investīgātor	investīgātōrēs

Descendants

• Catalan: investigador
• French: investigateur
• Galician: investigador
• Italian: investigatore
• Ladino: investigador
• Portuguese: investigador
• Romanian: investigator
• Spanish: investigador

Etymology 2

Verb

investīgātor

1. second/third-person singular future passive imperative of investīgō

References

• “investigator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “investigator”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French investigateur, from Latin investigator. Equivalent to investiga +‎ -tor.

Adjective

investigator m or n (feminine singular investigatoare, masculine plural investigatori, feminine and neuter plural investigatoare)

1. investigating

Declension

Declension of investigator

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	investigator		investigatoare		investigatori	investigatoare
	definite	investigatorul		investigatoarea		investigatorii	investigatoarele
genitive- dative	indefinite	investigator		investigatoare		investigatori	investigatoare
	definite	investigatorului		investigatoarei		investigatorilor	investigatoarelor

Noun

investigator m (plural investigatori, feminine equivalent investigatoare)

1. investigator

Derived terms

• investigare
• investigație