Inquisitor

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An inquisitor was an official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literally, an inquisitor is one who "searches out" or "inquires" (from the Latin inquirere). There exist archaic female forms of the word. "Inquisitrix" was used in the early 1800s, and its predecessor "inquisitress" was used in the early 1700s. In some cases, inquisitors sought out the social networks that people (allegedly) used to spread heresy. There were multiple national inquisitions with different approaches and targets. By extension, the term "inquisitor" sometimes refers to interrogators not connected with the Catholic church — for example, to zealous NKVD functionaries in the Soviet Union.

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