inquisitiveness

the word 'inquisitiveness' is built upon the latin verb inquirere, meaning 'to seek into, investigate'. this verb itself is composed of the prefix in- ('into') and the verb quaerere ('to seek, ask'), whose past participle stem is quaesit-. the english adjective 'inquisitive' was formed by adding the suffix -ive to this root, creating a word for someone who is 'given to seeking into matters'. finally, the old english abstract noun-forming suffix -ness was appended, transforming the quality into a state of being. thus, the literal sense of 'the state of tending to seek into things' evolved into the modern meaning of a persistent, probing curiosity.

Structure: in + quisit + ive + ness in- (latin prefix, meaning 'into, in, on, upon'); quisit (from latin root quaesit-, meaning 'to seek, ask'); -ive (latin suffix, forming adjectives meaning 'tending to, having the nature of'); -ness (old english suffix, forming nouns indicating a state or quality).