The Only Use of
inquisition
in
The Scarlet Letter
- The ancient Surveyor—being little molested, I suppose, at that early day with business pertaining to his office—seems to have devoted some of his many leisure hours to researches as a local antiquarian, and other inquisitions of a similar nature.†
Chpt Intr.
Definition:
-
(inquisition) common noun: questioning or investigation -- often implying harsh questioning
or:
proper noun: a former tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church (or their investigations) created to discover and suppress heresy