The act of examining something carefully and thoroughly to assess its condition, quality, or compliance with standards.
From Latin inspectus, past participle of inspicere, from in- 'into' + specere 'to look.' Entered English in the 17th century, originally meaning to look into or examine officially.
The word 'inspect' shares its root with 'spectacle' and 'suspect' - they all come from the Latin 'specere' meaning 'to look.' This connection reveals how fundamental the act of looking and observing is to human understanding and evaluation!
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