percontationn.
/ˌpəːkɒnˈteɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌpərkənˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ Now rare.
A question or inquiry which requires more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > [noun] > instance of
inquisitionc1440
investigation1533
sight1592
review1611
percontation1623
evestigation1658
inquirendoa1846
shakedown1914
look-around1967
nosy1990
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. Percontation, an enquiry.
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. viii. 41 Percontation is a thing for which we cannot answer significantly, as in Interrogation, yes: but as thus, He dwelleth in such a place.
1702 Lives Anc. Philosophers viii. 292 Of Discibles..some are..Perfect, as compleating the Sentence; some of which compleat it without Affirmation or Negation, Verity or Falsity, as in Interrogations, Percontations, Imperative Expressions, [etc.].
1844 S. R. Maitland Dark Ages ii. 24 Between a percontation and interrogation, the ancients made this distinction—that the former admitted a variety of answers, while the latter must be replied to by ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
1877 Month Aug. 402 He knew the mysteries of intonation and accentuation sufficiently to be able to impress upon his hearers the difference between a ‘percontation’ and an ‘interrogation’.
1982 V. Salmon in J. A. Anderson Lang. Form & Ling. Variation 421 It might..be useful to reintroduce percontation for wh- questions, and reserve interrogation for yes/no questions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1623