question

question

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of question in English

English Online Dictionary. What means question‎? What does question mean?

English

Alternative forms

  • quæstion (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English question, questioun, questiun, from Anglo-Norman questiun, from Old French question, from Latin quaestiōnem, accusative of quaestiō (a seeking, investigation, inquiry, question), from quaerere (to seek, ask, inquire), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (to acquire).

Displaced native Old English āscung. Compare also Middle Low German quēstie (questioning; inquiry), Middle High German questje (question).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkwɛst͡ʃən/, /ˈkwɛstjən/, /ˈkwɛʃt͡ʃən/
  • (US also) IPA(key): /ˈkwɛʃtən/
  • (Indian English) IPA(key): /ˈkwɛst͡ʃɛn/, /ˈkwɛʃ(t͡ʃ)ɛn/
  • (Hong Kong) IPA(key): /ˈkwɛ.ʃən/, /ˈkwɛʔ.ʃən/
  • Rhymes: -ɛstʃən
  • Hyphenation: ques‧tion

Noun

question (plural questions)

  1. A sentence, phrase or word which asks for information, reply or response; an interrogative.
    • 2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:
      Can I ask you two a question? / Please, Christ, yes. / How can you two live like this? / How can... / Don't google the question, Moss!
  2. A subject or topic for consideration or investigation.
  3. A doubt or challenge about the truth, accuracy, or validity of a matter.
  4. A proposal to a meeting as a topic for deliberation.
  5. (now archaic, historical, chiefly with definite article) Interrogation by torture.
  6. (obsolete) Talk; conversation; speech.

Synonyms

  • (interrogative): inquiry, enquiry, query, interrogation
  • (subject): subject, topic, problem, consideration, proposition
  • (doubt): issue, doubt
  • (proposal): proposal

Derived terms

Related terms

  • query
  • quest

Translations

Verb

question (third-person singular simple present questions, present participle questioning, simple past and past participle questioned)

  1. (transitive) To ask questions of; to interrogate; to ask for information.
  2. (transitive) To raise doubts about; have doubts about.
    • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      He questioned South Korean claims that China is a major source of its pollution.
  3. (intransitive) To ask a question or questions; inquire or seek to know; examine.
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To argue; to converse; to dispute.

Synonyms

  • frain, quaeritate (obsolete)

Derived terms

  • questioner

Translations

See also

  • answer
  • ask
  • interrogative

References

  • “question”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
  • question at OneLook Dictionary Search

French

Alternative forms

  • quæstion (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French and Old French question (12th c.), borrowed from Latin quaestiōnem. At first a learned word, therefore retaining preconsonantal -s- (compare related quête).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɛs.tjɔ̃/
  • Rhymes: -jɔ̃

Noun

question f (plural questions)

  1. a question
  2. issue, matter, topic, problem

Derived terms

Further reading

  • “question”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

  • quêtions, toniques

Interlingua

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kwesˈtjon/

Noun

question (plural questiones)

  1. question

Middle English

Noun

question

  1. Alternative form of questioun

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quaestiō, quaestiōnem.

Noun

question f (oblique plural questions, nominative singular question, nominative plural questions)

  1. question (verbal statement intended to elicit a response)
  2. question (problem in need of resolution)

Descendants

  • Middle English: questioun, question, questiun, questyon, questyounn, qwestyon, qwestioun
    • English: question
    • Scots: quaisten, quastin
    • Welsh: cwestiwn
  • French: question
    • Romanian: chestie, chestiune
  • Norman: tchestchion (Jersey)

References

  • question on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.