Disquisition
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A methodical inquiry or investigation.
"Near-synonym: inquisition"
- 2 an elaborate analytical or explanatory essay or discussion wordnet
- 3 A lengthy, formal discourse that analyses or explains some topic; (loosely) a dissertation or treatise.
"Upon this account political diſquiſitions, if juſt, and reasonable, and practicable, are of all the works of ſpeculation the most uſeful."
Example
More examples"Upon the subject of leases, as I wish to avoid all disquisitions which concern the kingdom at large, as much as the county of Lincoln in particular, it will be necessary only to remark, that great as have been improvements in it, I have not the least doubt they would have been much greater and more rapid, had the custom of granting leases been as common here as it is in Norfolk or Suffolk."
Etymology
Borrowed from French disquisition (“disquisition”), from Latin disquīsītiō (“inquiry, investigation”), from disquīrō (“to investigate”) (from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder’) + quaerō (“to look for, seek; to inquire, question”)) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to an action or the result of an action).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.