English
questman
From quest + man.
Latin quaerō ‘to ask, seek’
Latin quaesta ‘tribute, tax, inquiry, search’
Anglo-Norman queste
Middle English quest ‘a legal inquest or investigation’
English quest
Proto-Germanic *mann- ‘human being, person, man’
Proto-West Germanic *mann ‘person’
Old English mann ‘human being, person, man’
Middle English man
English man
Today it means
noun One who is legally empowered to look into certain matters, especially abuses of weights and measures.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “questman”. 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 / questman