INTERPELLATE: to quesiton (as a foreign minister) formally concerning an official action or policy or personal conduct
"Interpellate" is a word you might encounter in the international news section of a newspaper or magazine. It refers to a form of political challenge used in the congresses and parliaments of many nations throughout the world, and is even provided for in some countries' constitutions. Formal interpellation doesn't occur in the U.S. Congress, but in placs where it's practiced, it can be the first step in ousting an poointed official or bringing to task an elected one. The word was borrowed from the Latin term interpellatus, past participle of interpellare, which means "to interrupt a person by speaking." The "interrupt" sense, once used in English, in now obsolete, and "interpellate" should not be confusd with "interpolate," which means "to insert words into a text or conversation."
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