Etymology

Verb

1. To ask or query; used imperatively to introduce a question or signify doubt.

   • 1970: Now, she cannot express her emotions fully: Quaere: will she feel them fully? — Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander

Noun

1. A question or query.

   • 1761: Had ten dozen of hornets stung him behind in so many places all at one time,—he could not have [...] started half so much, as with one single quære of three words unseasonably popping in full upon him — Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, vol. 3 (Penguin 2003, p. 216)