English, from Latin
quaestio
Question
question
A seeking. Reverse Reduction forty-two. Answer does not lock.
Etymology
Latin quaestio, a seeking, an inquiry, from quaerere, to seek, ask, inquire. Old French question. English question. It is the act of going after something not yet held. Answer is another road: Old English andswaru, a sworn reply, swearing against. Do not treat them as a pair that the alphabet was obliged to balance.
Historical usage
Douglas Adams’s 42 is the answer whose question was lost. The English word QUESTION, Reverse Reduction, is 42. ANSWER is not. That is arithmetic of a later spelling, not a law of Latin.
Later development
Four faces, unblended. QUESTION Reverse Reduction 42. Reverse Ordinal 96. English Ordinal 120. Full Reduction 39. One face locks. Three do not.
Why it matters here
Forty-two is an invitation to ask a better question, not a verdict. HERO, JOURNEY, RETURN, ANSWER miss. The seeking locks. The stamp of the hero does not.
Stories that hold this word
Relationship type is not optional
A word present in a source text is not the same as a later critical term applied to that story.
Later critical term
The OdysseyITHACA locks. ODYSSEUS does not. The home-word invites; the wrath-name does not.
Later critical term
Inanna’s DescentENHEDUANNA and ISHTAR invite. INANNA misses.
Later critical term
GilgameshHUMBABA invites. GILGAMESH misses.
Later critical term
The CaminoPILGRIM invites. CAMINO misses.
Related
Later critical term
The OdysseyLater critical term
Inanna’s DescentLater critical term
GilgameshLater critical term
The Camino