Inquirente

Inquirente is a noun in the Italian language that designates a person who conducts inquiries or investigations. The term can refer to someone who gathers facts, questions witnesses, or probes evidence as part of an inquiry, whether in legal, administrative, corporate, or journalistic settings.

Etymology and form: inquirente derives from the verb inquirere, from Latin inquirere “to seek, examine.” The word denotes the agent performing the inquiry; the form is invariable in gender (inquirente) and the plural is inquirenti.

Usage and context: in modern Italian, inquirente is relatively uncommon as a formal title. In criminal contexts, the term may appear in legal writing or reporting to describe the person who leads the inquiry, but the standard official roles are the pubblico ministero (public prosecutor) or magistrato, depending on the jurisdiction and procedure. The word is more likely to be found in older texts, literary contexts, or descriptive prose than in contemporary procedural language. For instance, one might encounter a sentence such as “L’inquirente ha raccolto testimonianze,” though more typical phrasing would use indagatore, investigatore, or the specific official designation.

Related terms and distinctions: synonyms include indagatore and investigatore, while inchiesta refers to the investigation itself rather than the person conducting it. In modern usage, private investigators are usually called investigatori privati rather than inquirenti. The term remains largely archaic or stylistic in official contexts but remains understood in Italian.