What does "inquisition" mean?

Inquisition: (Law) (a) Judicial inquiry; official examination; inquest. (b) The finding of a jury, especially such a finding under a writ of inquiry. Bouvier. The justices in eyre had it formerly in charge to make inquisition concerning them by a jury of the county. Blackstone.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(R. C. Ch.) A court or tribunal for the examination and punishment of heretics, fully established by Pope Gregory IX. in 1235. Its operations were chiefly confined to Spain, Portugal, and their dependencies, and a part of Italy.
  2. 3.To make inquisistion concerning; to inquire into. [Obs.] Milton.

Sources