inquisition

English Thesaurus

1. a severe interrogation (often violating the rights or privacy of individuals) (noun.communication)

hypernym	:	examination, interrogation, interrogatory,
definition	:	formal systematic questioning (noun.communication)

2. a former tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church (1232-1820) created to discover and suppress heresy (noun.group)

hypernym	:	court, judicature, tribunal,
definition	:	an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business (noun.group)

instance hyponym	:	spanish inquisition,
definition	:	an inquisition initiated in 1478 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that guarded the orthodoxy of Catholicism in Spain (especially from the 15th to the 17th centuries) (noun.group)

instance hyponym	:	congregation of the inquisition, roman inquisition,
definition	:	an inquisition set up in Italy in 1542 to curb the number of Protestants (noun.group)