enquire
en·qui·re/ɛnˈkwaɪɹ/verb
enquire is spelled E-N-Q-U-I-R-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables (en·qui·re). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “enquire vs inquire” about 18,100 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, enquire means “British English form of inquire” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in enquire?
| Letters | 7: E-N-Q-U-I-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: en·qui·re |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,393rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is enquire?
Enquire appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce enquire?
- UK /ɛnˈkwaɪə/
- UK /ɪn-/
- US /ɛnˈkwaɪɹ/
Enquire has 3 syllables, split en·qui·re in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-enquire.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with enquire
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: inquire.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with enquire?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as enquire from its last stressed vowel (/aɪɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of enquire
- enquires present, singular, he/she/it
- enquiring participle, present
- enquired participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does enquire mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
BritishBritish English form of inquire.
He enquired about the availability of rental bicycles in the town.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does enquire come from?
From Old French enquerre, from en- + querre (“to search, to look for”), from Latin quaerere, of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).