Word.ws English Dictionary

perscrutate

UK/pəːˈskruː.teɪt/US/pɚˈskruˌteɪt/

perscrutate verb: to scrutinize, peruse, inspect (something).

Verb

perscrutate (third-person singular simple present perscrutates, present participle perscrutating, simple past and past participle perscrutated)

  1. (rare, transitive) To scrutinize, peruse, inspect (something).
    • For though in the Laws of nature ard men, there is myſterious abſtruſity, which toils and troubles the Learners brain, in perſcrutating and underſtanding them; the effects whereof are viſible in the moroſity and ſeparation of their Students, from the pleaſures of converſation and diverſion; yet are...1663, Edward Waterhous [i.e. Edward Waterhouse], chapter III, in Forteſcutus Illuſtratus, or A Commentary On that Nervous Treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, London: […] Tho. Roycroft for Thomas...
    • But if you pleaſe, with your perſpicuous Luminaries to contemplate and perſcrutate theſe Teſtifications, you ſhall be animadverted of my Deportment in the Oxfordian Society, in my modification for Literature.1689, R.W. D.D. [i.e., Robert Wild], “Act the Fourth”, in The Benefice. A Comedy., London: […] R. Janeway, page 40

Examples of perscrutate in a sentence

  • Max Müller seemed to think that, till we had all savage languages perscrutated by new Bopps and Kuhns, we could not move.1900 December, Andrew Lang, “Max Mueller”, in The Contemporary Review, volume 78, page 791:
  • I perscrutated the engine, awaiting a celestial voice to chip in and guide me through the problems.1994, Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang, United States: The New Press, →ISBN, page 25:

Forms of perscrutate

third-person singular presentperscrutates
present participleperscrutating
past participleperscrutated
pastperscrutated

Origin of perscrutate

Either a back-formation from perscrutation, or directly from Latin perscrūtātus, perfect passive participle of perscrūtor (“to search”). Earliest known use is from 1663 (see quotations).

Questions about perscrutate

What does perscrutate mean?
Perscrutate means to scrutinize, peruse, inspect (something).
How do you use perscrutate in a sentence?
Max Müller seemed to think that, till we had all savage languages perscrutated by new Bopps and Kuhns, we could not move.
What part of speech is perscrutate?
Perscrutate is a verb.
How do you pronounce perscrutate?
Perscrutate is pronounced /pəːˈskruː.teɪt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of perscrutate?
The past tense of perscrutate is perscrutated.

Words near perscrutate in the dictionary

  1. perscopate
  2. perscopated
  3. perscopates
  4. perscopating
  5. perscription
  6. perscrutate
  7. perscrutated
  8. perscrutates
  9. perscrutating
  10. perscrutation
  11. perscrutations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: perscrutate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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