Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Investigator |
InvestigatorNoun1. A scientist who devotes himself to doing research. 2. Someone who investigates. 3. A police officer who investigates crimes. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "investigator" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1615. (references) |
Etymology: Investigator \In*ves"ti*ga`tor\, noun. [Latin: compare to the French expression investigateur.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Occupations | Investigates regulated activities to assure compliance with federal, state, or municipal laws: Locates and interviews plaintiffs, witnesses, or representatives of business or government to gather facts relating to alleged violation. Observes conditions to verify facts indicating violation of law relating to such activities as revenue collection, employment practices, or fraudulent benefit claims. Examines business, personal, or public records and documents to establish facts and authenticity of data. Investigates character of applicant for special license or permit. Investigates suspected misuses of license or permit. Prepares correspondence and reports of investigations for use by administrative or legal authorities. Testifies in court or at administrative proceedings concerning findings of investigation. May serve legal papers. May be required to meet licensing or certification standards established by regulatory agency concerned. May be designated according to function or agency where employed as Inspector, Weights And Measures (government ser.); Investigator, Internal Revenue (government ser.); Investigator, Welfare (government ser.); Postal Inspector (government ser.); Investigator, Claims (government ser.). (references) |
| Investigates persons or business establishments applying for credit, employment, insurance, loans, or settlement of claims: Contacts former employers, neighbors, trade associations, and others by telephone or in person, to verify employment record and to obtain health history and history of moral and social behavior. Examines city directories and public records to verify residence history, convictions and arrests, property ownership, bankruptcies, liens, and unpaid taxes of applicant. Obtains credit rating from banks and credit services. Analyzes information gathered by investigation and prepares reports of findings and recommendations, using typewriter or computer. May interview applicant on telephone or in person to obtain other financial and personal data to complete report. May be designated according to type of investigation as Credit Reporter (business ser.); Insurance Application Investigator (insurance). (references) | |
| Shops in commercial, retail, and service establishments to test integrity of sales and service personnel, and evaluates sales techniques and services rendered customers: Reviews establishment's policies and standards to ascertain employee-performance requirements. Buys merchandise, orders food, or utilizes services to evaluate sales technique and courtesy of employee. Carries merchandise to check stand or sales counter and observes employee during sales transaction to detect irregularities in listing or calling prices, itemizing merchandise, or handling cash. Delivers purchases to agency conducting shopping investigation service. Writes report of investigations for each establishment visited. Usually works as member of shopping investigation crew. (references) | |
| Protects property of business establishment by detecting vandalism, thievery, shoplifting, or dishonesty among employees or patrons, performing any combination of following duties: Conducts investigations on own initiative or on request of management. Stakes out company grounds to apprehend suspects in illegal acts. Questions suspects and apprehends culprits. Files complaints against suspects and testifies in court as witness. Writes case reports. Alerts other retail establishments when person of known criminal character is observed in store. May be designated according to type of establishment as Store Detective (retail trade). (references) | |
| Investigates persons suspected of securing services through fraud or error: Makes personal calls on individuals in question and tactfully attempts to secure evidence or personal admission that individual being investigated owes for previous service, or obtains pertinent data to show that suspicion was unwarranted. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: InvestigatorSynonyms: detective (n), police detective (n), research worker (n), researcher (n), tec (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Inquiry | Inquirer, investigator, inquisitor, inspector, querist, examiner, catechist; scrutator scrutineer scrutinizer; analyst; quidnunc; (curiosity). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Investigator |
| English words defined with "investigator": detective ♦ examiner ♦ Indagator, inspector ♦ Samuel Wiesenthal ♦ tracer ♦ Wiesenthal. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "investigator": CO-INVESTIGATOR ♦ doorshaker, double-blind, double-blinding ♦ FLY ♦ INVESTIGATOR, NARCOTICS ♦ MERCHANT PATROLLER ♦ narcotics investigator, non-response ♦ Observational study, OGIP ♦ PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR INSTRUMENT ♦ SANTOS-DUMONT, sympathy effect. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Investigator" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. Latin (after, find, for, investigate, search out, track down). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | See, that's the difference between a great investigator like me, and a piece of spam like you. (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane; writing credit: Rex Weiner; James Cappe) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Investigator (1958) Insurance Investigator (1951) Post Office Investigator (1949) Frontier Investigator (1949) Secret Service Investigator (1948) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | The principal investigator for this restoration project at Indian River lagoon works at cutting Brazilian Pepper out of the canopy. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | Plate XV. 53. Platytroctes apus, Gunther. Gunther, Challenger Report, Vol. X XII. 54. Anomalopterus pinguis, Vaillant, Goode and Bean. From Vaillant, "Exp ed. Scient. du Travailleur et du Talisman." 55. Aulastomatomorpha phosphorops, Alcock. From Wood-Mason, "Natural History Notes from .... INVESTIGATOR." 56. Leptoderma macrops, Vaillant. From Vaillant, "Exped. Scient. du Travailleur ...". Credit: National Marine Fisheries Historical Image Collection. |
 | William James : Investigator of the Subliminal Consciousness / P. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by Notman.. |  | Farm woman in conversation with relief investigator, West Virginia. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Relief investigator near Urbana, Ohio. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | Few secrets can escape an investigator, who has opportunity and license to undertake such a quest, and skill to follow it up. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | To induce this response, the investigator scans the myelin-attacking T cells for the myelin-recognizing receptors on the cells' surface. (references) | |
The method used (for example, a predetermined checklist developed by the investigator or spontaneous reporting by the study participant) to establish the presence of these and any other symptoms should be specified. (references) | ||
Business | The PGR appointed a special investigator to look into these disappearances. (references) | |
Human Rights | Czech Republic | The investigator claimed that the Rom was called in for questioning in a stolen car case. (references) |
Kyrgyz Republic | Prison visits by family members are at the discretion of the investigator during the investigation phase. (references) | |
Belarus | According to Revkov, the investigator interrogated him for a total of 14 to 16 hours during the 19 months he spent in pretrial detention. (references) | |
Women | Mauritania | In 2000 the first female Acting Police Commissioner was appointed in the capital and also began serving as Chief Investigator in the same police station. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | FLY-:SPECK:, n. The prototype of punctuation. It is observed by Garvinus that the systems of punctuation in use by the various literary nations depended originally upon the social habits and general diet of the flies infesting the several countries. These creatures, which have always been distinguished for a neighborly and companionable familiarity with authors, liberally or niggardly embellish the manuscripts in process of growth under the pen, according to their bodily habit, bringing out the sense of the work by a species of interpretation superior to, and independent of, the writer's powers. The "old masters" of literature -- that is to say, the early writers whose work is so esteemed by later scribes and critics in the same language -- never punctuated at all, but worked right along free-handed, without that abruption of the thought which comes from the use of points. (We observe the same thing in children to-day, whose usage in this particular is a striking and beautiful instance of the law that the infancy of individuals reproduces the methods and stages of development characterizing the infancy of races.) In the work of these primitive scribes all the punctuation is found, by the modern investigator with his optical instruments and chemical tests, to have been inserted by the writers' ingenious and serviceable collaborator, the common house-fly -- Musca maledicta. In transcribing these ancient MSS, for the purpose of either making the work their own or preserving what they naturally regard as divine revelations, later writers reverently and accurately copy whatever marks they find upon the papyrus or parchment, to the unspeakable enhancement of the lucidity of the thought and value of the work. Writers contemporary with the copyists naturally avail themselves of the obvious advantages of these marks in their own work, and with such assistance as the flies of their own household may be willing to grant, frequently rival and sometimes surpass the older compositions, in respect at least of punctuation, which is no small glory. Fully to understand the important services that flies perform to literature it is only necessary to lay a page of some popular novelist alongside a saucer of cream-and-molasses in a sunny room and observe "how the wit brightens and the style refines" in accurate proportion to the duration of exposure. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Investigator" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.20% of the time. "Investigator" is used about 374 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.2% | 371 | 14,642 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.53% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (common) | 0.27% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 374 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "investigator": Presidential Young Investigator ♦ principal investigator ♦ private investigator. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "investigator": investigator-general, investigator-in-charge, investigator-led. | |
Ending with "investigator": co-investigator. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "investigator"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | hetues (coroner, inquisitional, inquisitiveness, inquisitor, interrogator, investigative, investigatory, nark, searching), gjurmues (tracer). (various references) | |
Arabic | مفتش (examiner, inspected, inspector, searcher, searching), منقب (sap, searcher, searching), محقق (examiner, implementer, implementing, incontestable, inquiring, inquisitive, inspector, interrogator, realizing), المستقصي الاخبار, الباحث (researcher). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | следовател (inquisitor), агент (agent, broker, factor, feeler, implement, minister, nark, plant, procurator), изследовател (explorer, inquisitor, researcher, researchist), детектив (beagle, detective, eye, gumshoe, operative, shadow, tec, tracker, trap). (various references) | |
Chinese | 調查人" , 调查员, "究者 (researcher). (various references) | |
Czech | vyšetřovatel (interrogator, querist), badatel (explorer, researcher, scientist, student). (various references) | |
Dutch | onderzoeker (examiner, research worker, researcher), lid waardeteam. (various references) | |
Finnish | tutkija (examiner, research-worker, scientist). (various references) | |
French | investigateur (inquiring, inquisitive, investigative), enquêteur (inquisitor, inspector), chercheur (inquiring). (various references) | |
German | erforscher (explorer, researcher), Untersucher (examiner, prober). (various references) | |
Greek | εξεταστήσ (examiner, inquisitor, prober, questioner, quizzer), ανακριτήσ (examiner, inquisitor, interrogator). (various references) | |
Hebrew | חוקר (examiner, explorer, researcher). (various references) | |
Hungarian | nyomozó (detective, inquisitional, investigatory, plainclothes man, researcher, tracer, tracker). (various references) | |
Indonesian | penyuluh (one who provides elucidation). (various references) | |
Italian | investigatore (detective, inquirer), indagatore (inquirer, inquiring, inquisitive, searching), sperimentatore responsabile. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 調査" (examiner), 探究者 (researcher), 求"者 (one who seeks the way). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | た"きゅうしゃ (pursuer, researcher, searcher), きゅうどうしゃ (one who seeks the way), ちょうさい" (examiner). (various references) | |
Korean | 조사자 (Enquirer, inquirer). (various references) | |
Manx | roneyder. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | investigatoray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | investigador (detective, detector, ferret, hosteler, hosteller, inquiring, inquisitional, investigative, investigatory, raker, research, researcher, scrutator, student), pessoa que investiga. (various references) | |
Romanian | cercetãtor (curious, curiously, examiner, explorer, inquisitively, peering, researcher, scout, searching, searchingly, student), anchetator (cross-examiner, inquisitor). (various references) | |
Russian | исследователь (boffin, discoverer, explorer, researcher, researchist, tracer). (various references) | |
Scottish | sgrùdair (searcher). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | istraživač (exploiter, explorer, inquisitor, researcher, researchist, tracer), islednik (coroner). (various references) | |
Spanish | investigador (explorer, investigative, investigatory, researcher, searcher, student). (various references) | |
Swedish | forskare (researcher, researchist, scholar, scientist, scientists). (various references) | |
Turkish | müfettiş (examiner, inspector, overseer, superintendent, supervisor, visitor), dedektif (bloodhound, detective, Dick, ferret, spotter), araştırmacı (analyst, explorer, inquisitive, investigative, researcher, searcher, surveyor). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | слідчий (inquirer, inquisitional, inquisitorial, interrogator), дослідник (discoverer, examiner, explorer, inquisitor, pathfinder, researcher, tracer). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | người điều tra nghiên cứu. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Proverbs Chapter 11, Verse 27 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | TektainomenoV agaqa zhtei carin agaqhn ekzhtounta de kaka katalhmyetai auton |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Bene consurgit diluculo qui quaerit bona qui autem investigator malorum est opprimetur ab eis |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Wel riseth erli, that secheth goodis; who forsothe is enserchere of euelis, of hem shal be oppressid. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | He that diligently seeketh good procureth favor: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come to him. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | He who, with all his heart, goes after what is good is searching for grace; but he who is looking for trouble will get it. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Proverbs Chapter 11, Verse 27 |
| Cebuano | ¶ Kadtong nagapangita sa masingkamoton gayud sa maayo nagapangita ug kalooy; Apan kadtong nagapangita ug kadautan, kini modangat kaniya. |
| Chinese | 懇 切 求 善 的 、 就 求 得 恩 ． 惟 獨 求 惡 的 、 惡 必 臨 到 他 身 。 |
| Croatian | Tko traži dobro, nalazi milost, a tko za zlom ide, ono æe ga snaæi. |
| Danish | Hvo der jager efter godt, han søger efter Yndest, hvo der higer efter ondt, ham kommer det over. |
| Dutch | Wie het goede vroeg nazoekt, zoekt welgevalligheid; maar wie het kwade natracht, dien zal het overkomen. |
| Finnish | Joka hyvään pyrkii, etsii sitä, mikä otollista on, mutta joka pahaa etsii, sille se tulee. |
| French | Celui qui recherche le bien s`attire de la faveur, Mais celui qui poursuit le mal en est atteint. |
| German | Wer da Gutes sucht, dem widerfährt Gutes; wer aber nach Unglück ringt, dem wird's begegnen. |
| Haitian Creole | ¶ Moun k'ap chache fè sa ki byen ap jwenn favè Bondye. Men, moun k'ap kouri dèyè malè, se malè ki pou rive l'. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Siapa rajin berbuat baik akan disenangi orang; siapa mencari kejahatan, akan ditimpa kesukaran. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Barangsiapa yang bangun pagi-pagi akan berbuat baik, ia itu menuntut keridlaan, tetapi orang yang menuntut jahat itu, jahatpun akan berlaku atasnya. |
| Italian | Chi è sollecito del bene trova il favore, chi ricerca il male, male avr . |
| Maori | ¶ Ko te tangata e ata rapu ana i te pai, e rapu ana i te whakapai: ko te tangata ia e rapu ana i te he, ka tae tera ki a ia. |
| Norwegian | Den som søker hvad godt er, søker det som er til behag; men den som higer efter ondt, over ham kommer det onde. |
| Portuguese | O que busca diligentemente o bem, busca favor; mas ao que procura o mal, este lhe sobrevirá. |
| Rumanian | Cine urmqrewte binele, kwi ckwtigq bunqvoinyq, dar cine urmqrewte rqul este atins de el. - |
| Russian | лФП УФТЕНЙФУС Л "П'ТХ, ФПФ ЙЭЕФ 'МБЗПЧПМЕОЙС; Б ЛФП ЙЭЕФ ЪМБ, Л ФПНХ ПОП Й ТЙИП"ЙФ. |
| Spanish | El que se esmera por el bien conseguirá favor; pero al que busca el mal, éste le vendrá. |
| Swedish | Den som vinnlägger sig om vad gott är, han strävar efter nåd, men den son söker vad ont är, över honom kommer ock ont. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "investigator": investigators, investigatory. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "investigator": coinvestigator. (additional references) | |
Words containing "investigator": coinvestigators. (additional references) | |
| |
"Investigator" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: investigaton. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "investigator" (pronounced i'nve"stugā'ter) |
| 7 | -s t u g ā' t er | instigator. |
| 6 | -t u g ā' t er | litigator. |
| 5 | -u g ā' t er | alligator, interrogator, irrigator, navigator. |
| 3 | -ā' t er | educator, elevator, accelerator, accumulator, activator, actuator, administrator, agitator, allocator, alternator, animator, applicator, appropriator, arbitrator, aviator, calculator, carburetor, cogenerator, collaborator, commentator, communicator, conciliator, consolidator, coordinator, decorator, defibrillator, demonstrator, denominator, detonator, escalator, evaporator, excavator, exterminator, fabricator, facilitator, generator, gladiator, illuminator, illustrator, imitator, incinerator, incubator, indicator, infiltrator, innovator, insulator, integrator, legislator, liquidator, locator, manipulator, mediator, Moderator, modulator, negotiator, operator, originator, oscillator, percolator, perpetrator, radiator, refrigerator, regulator, renovator, respirator, simulator, speculator, stimulator, syndicator, Terminator, ventilator, violator. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-g-i-i-n-o-r-s-t-t-v" | |
-1 letter: invigorates, overstating. | |
-2 letters: estivating, estivation, instigator, invigorate, iterations, negativist, novitiates, originates, transitive, vanitories. | |
-3 letters: gestation, grainiest, gravities, gravitons, grievants, instigate, iterating, iteration, novitiate, orangiest, originate, ravigotes, resitting, restating, retasting, rigatonis, rivetting, seriating, sortieing, stationer, striating, striation, tantivies, tetragons, vintagers, vitiators. | |
-4 letters: angriest, antiriot, astringe, attiring, aversion, averting, estating, estragon, ganister, gantries, garottes, gavottes, genitors. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-g-i-i-n-o-r-s-t-t-v" | |
+1 letter: investigators, investigatory. | |
+2 letters: coinvestigator, interrogatives, overestimating, seronegativity, tergiversation. | |
+3 letters: coinvestigators, overstimulating, prognosticative, reinvestigation, tergiversations. | |
+4 letters: magnetostrictive, reinvestigations, seronegativities. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Bible Trace 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
