Inquiry vs Plea - What's the difference?
inquiry | plea | Related terms |
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.
An appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty.
An excuse; an apology.
That which is alleged or pleaded, in defense or in justification.
(legal) That which is alleged by a party in support of his cause.
(legal) An allegation of fact in a cause, as distinguished from a demurrer.
(legal) The defendant’s answer to the plaintiff’s declaration and demand.
(legal) A cause in court; a lawsuit; as, the Court of Common Pleas. See under Common.
As nouns the difference between inquiry and plea
is that inquiry is the act of inquiring; a seeking of information by asking questions; interrogation; a question or questioning while plea is an appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty.inquiry
English
(wikipedia inquiry)Alternative forms
* enquiryNoun
(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
*plea
English
Noun
(en noun)- a plea for mercy
- 1667', ''Necessity, the tyrant’s '''plea .'' --, ''Paradise Lost IV.393
- (rfdate) No plea must serve; ‘t is cruelty to spare. -- .
- (rfdate) The Supreme Judicial Court shall have cognizance of pleas real, personal, and mixed. --Laws of Massachusetts.