Inquisition (Noun)
Meaning 1
A severe interrogation (often violating the rights or privacy of individuals).
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
A former tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church (1232-1820) created to discover and suppress heresy.
Classification
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects.
Examples
- The Spanish Inquisition was notorious for its use of torture to extract confessions from accused heretics.
- The inquisition's focus on rooting out witchcraft and sorcery led to the persecution of many innocent people.
- During the inquisition, thousands of alleged heretics were put on trial, with many being sentenced to death or imprisonment.
- The inquisition's methods were often brutal, involving techniques such as thumbscrews and the rack to extract confessions.
- The abolition of the inquisition in 1820 was seen as a major victory for civil liberties and human rights.