The history of technology

The nineteenth entry is o inquérito ao acidente, and the noun in the middle of it has no single English partner. « An inquest » is not a general investigation at all. In Britain it is a hearing held by a coroner, and it is held for one reason only, which is that somebody has died. It has no defendant, apportions no blame, and ends in a finding as to how the death came about. « An inquiry » is the wider thing: a body set up to establish what went wrong with a bridge, a ferry or a railway, and « a public inquiry » is the formal version of it, with counsel, witnesses and a report that names failures rather than criminals. « An investigation » is what the police or a safety board carry out, and it can run beside both. So o inquérito ao acidente after a collapse is « the inquiry into the accident », and it becomes « the inquest » only where there are deaths to account for. One note on spelling: writing in Britain keeps « enquiry » for asking a question and « inquiry » for the formal proceeding.