inquest

inquest

 [in´kwest]

a legal inquiry before a coroner or medical examiner, and usually a jury, into the manner of death.

in·quest

(in'kwest),

A legal inquiry into the cause of sudden, violent, or mysterious death.

[L. in, in, + quaero, pp. quaesitus, to seek]

inquest

/in·quest/ (in´kwest) a legal inquiry before a coroner or medical examiner, and usually a jury, into the manner of death.

inquest

[in′kwest]

Etymology: L, in, within, quaerere, to seek

a legal inquiry or examination.

inquest

A public inquiry into death which, under English law, is held to establish:
(1) the identity of the deceased,
(2) the date and
(3) place of death and
(4) the circumstances surrounding the death (including the medical cause of death).

in·quest

(in'kwest)

A legal inquiry into the cause of sudden, violent, or mysterious death.

[L. in, in, + quaero, pp. quaesitus, to seek]

inquest

A judicial inquiry usually into the cause of a death. Inquests are presided over by coroners who are either barristers, solicitors or medical practitioners. Inquests are held in cases of violent or unnatural death, deaths in prison, deaths from industrial disease or poisoning and in other cases of death in which the coroner has discretion as whether or not to hold an inquest. A jury may or may not be called.