''Quaere'' is

legal Latin A number of Latin terms are used in law, legal terminology and legal maxims. This is a partial list of these terms, which are wholly or substantially drawn from Latin, or anglicized Law Latin. __TOC__ Common law Civil law Ecclesia ...

, literally meaning "inquire" or "query". In legal drafting it is usually used to indicate that the person expressing the view that precedes the phrase may not adhere to the hypothesis following it. For example: :"I am of the view that the defendant had

constructive knowledge In law, knowledge is one of the degrees of ''mens rea'' that constitute part of a crime. For example, in English law, the offence of knowingly being a passenger in a vehicle taken without consent ( TWOC) requires that the prosecution prove not o ...

of the acts of the sub-contractor, although ''quaere'' whether this would still be true had the sub-contractor not included a summary of those acts in the joint proposal that was issued." The word ''quaere'' has occasionally, as a result of misunderstanding, appeared on maps or in gazetteers. The columnist

Miles Kington Miles Beresford Kington (13 May 1941 – 30 January 2008) was a British journalist, musician (a double bass player for Instant Sunshine and other groups) and broadcaster. He is also credited with the invention of Franglais, a fictional language ...

, writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', records that a map-maker c. 1578 was compiling a map of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. There was a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

where he had doubts about the correct name. He therefore wrote on the draft map ''Quaere''. This was mistaken by the engraver of the map as being the name of a hamlet or village. The error persisted for well over two centuries; the following brief entry appears in a gazetteer published in 1805: ''QUÆRE, (Wilts) near Wilton.'' This obscure word is also used in the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

song, "The Fairy Fellers Master-Stroke", from the album ''

Queen II ''Queen II'' is the second studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 8 March 1974 by EMI Records in the UK and Elektra Records in the US. It was recorded at Trident Studios and Langham 1 Studios, London, in August 1973 ...

,'' used simply as a rhyming word for 'fairy' - as in the use of the word ''quaere'' in the repeated lines "What a ''quaere'' fellow," Roger Taylor stressed that it was not related to

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

's sexuality. '' 'Mojo magazine interview', http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=14377

References

{{reflist Latin legal terminology