in·quest /'in-ˌkwest/ n [Anglo-French enqueste, from Old French, ultimately from Latin inquirere to ask about, from in- within, into + quaerere to seek]
1: a judicial or official inquiry or examination often before a jury
a coroner's inquest compare trial
2: a body of people (as a jury) assembled to hold a judicial or official inquiry; also: the finding of such an inquiry or the document recording it
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.