scrutiny

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Careful and detailed examination of something.

   The government's proposal was put under close scrutiny by the opposition.

2. 2
   noun

   A long, intense look or inspection.

   Under the teacher's scrutiny, the students grew nervous.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Scrutiny, recorded in late Middle English, comes from the Latin verb scrutari, “to search.” The same verb appears in ecclesiastical Latin inscrutabilis, the source of inscrutable, literally “not able to be searched into.”

From Middle English scrutiny, from Medieval Latin scrūtinium (“a search, an inquiry”), from Vulgar Latin scrūtor (“to search or examine thoroughly”), from Late Latin scrūta (“rubbish, broken trash”), from an extension of Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary