Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Question in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels question as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Question

[F., fr. L. quaestio, fr. quaerere, quaesitum, to seek for, ask, inquire. See Quest, n.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordquestion
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[F., fr. L. quaestio, fr. quaerere, quaesitum, to seek for, ask, inquire. See Quest, n.]
Selected historical definitionThe act of asking; interrogation; inquiry; as, to examine by question and answer.
Signed record IDwebster1913-question-noun-230bb806c235
Source locatorCIDE.Q, paragraph 686; Gutenberg eBook 666
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 666Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "question" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F., fr. L. quaestio, fr. quaerere, quaesitum, to seek for, ask, inquire. See Quest, n.]" The selected historical definition says: "The act of asking; interrogation; inquiry; as, to examine by question and answer."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-09-05

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

Browse released Q records - browse all historical records.