English
investigator
Investigator comes from Latin investigator ‘investigator, researcher’, from investigō ‘to track or trace out, search after’, and ultimately from vestīgō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvestīgō1‘to follow a track, track, search’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvestigō2as investigare‘to track or trace out, search after’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvestigator2‘investigator, researcher’
- Englishearliest quotation 2022investigator2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin investigo
- 2 Wiktionary, English investigator
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2022, Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand: “That the Oath Keepers recording went uninvestigated by the…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvestīgōWiktionary, Latin investigo‘to follow a track, track, search’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvestigōWiktionary, English investigatoras investigare‘to track or trace out, search after’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvestigatorWiktionary, English investigator‘investigator, researcher’
- Englishearliest quotation 2022investigatorWiktionary, English investigator. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2022, Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand: “That the Oath Keepers recording went uninvestigated by the…”
Formed from investigate + -or
The story
Attested in the mid‐16th century; from Latin investigator, from investigare, equivalent to investigate + -or.
Linked words
through Latin vestīgium ‘footprint, track’
Today it means
noun One who investigates.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “investigator”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin investigo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin vestīgō / investigator