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Explore vs Inquiry - What's the difference?

explore | inquiry |

As a verb explore

is to seek for something or after someone.

As a noun inquiry is

the act of inquiring; a seeking of information by asking questions; interrogation; a question or questioning.

explore

English

Verb

(explor)
  • (obsolete) To seek for something or after someone.
  • To examine or investigate something systematically.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke
  • , title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.}}
  • To travel somewhere in search of discovery.
  • (medicine) To examine diagnostically.
  • To (seek) experience first hand.
  • To be engaged exploring in any of the above senses.
  • To wander without any particular aim or purpose.
  • *
  • They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored' wherever they were permitted to ' explore , paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.

    Synonyms

    * (examine or investigate systematically) delve into, research

    Derived terms

    * explorer

    inquiry

    Alternative forms

    * enquiry

    Noun

    (inquiries)
  • The act of inquiring; a seeking of information by asking questions; interrogation; a question or questioning.
  • Search for truth, information, or knowledge; examination of facts or principles; research; investigation; as, physical inquiries.
  • Usage notes

    According to Fowler's Modern English Usage'' (1926), ''inquiry'' should be used in relation to a formal inquest, and ''enquiry'' to the act of questioning. Many (though not all) British writers maintain this distinction; the Oxford English Dictionary, in its entry not updated since 1900, lists ''inquiry'' and ''enquiry'' as equal alternatives, in that order. Some British dictionaries, such as ''Chambers 21st Century Dictionary'' [http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?title=21st&query=inquiry], present the two spellings as interchangeable variants in the general sense, but prefer ''inquiry'' for the "formal inquest" sense. In Australian English, ''inquiry'' represents a formal inquest (such as a government investigation) while ''enquiry'' is used in the act of questioning (eg: the customer enquired about the status of his loan application). Both spellings are current in Canadian English, where ''enquiry'' is often associated with scholarly or intellectual research. (See Pam Peters, ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage , p. 282.) American English usually uses inquiry .

    References

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