dubitation

English

WOTD – 27 January 2011

Alternative forms

• dubytacion [15th century]
• dubitacion, dubitatioun [16th century]

Etymology

From Late Middle English dubytacion, from Middle French dubitation, from Latin dubitātiō.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: dyo͞obĭtāʹshən, jo͞ob-, IPA^(key): /djuːbɪˈteɪʃən/, /dʒuːbɪˈteɪʃən/
• (US) enPR: d(y)o͞obĭtāʹshən, IPA^(key): /ˌdu.bɪˈteɪ.ʃən/, /ˌdju.bɪˈteɪ.ʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

dubitation (usually uncountable, plural dubitations)

1. (uncountable, archaic) The process of doubting or the state of being in doubt; hesitation, uncertainty.
   • circa 1450, Coventry Mystery Plays, page 67 (Shakespeare Society; published 1841–53):

     I [...] Alle that my progenitouris hath [...] seyn, ffeythfully beleve withowtyn alle dubytacion.

   • 1570, George Buchanan, Chamæleon, page 51:

     The Chamæleon [...] eftir sum dubitatioun come to Striueling.

   • 1867, George MacDonald, chapter 32, in Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood:

     All my dubitation and distress were gone, for I had something to do, although what I could not yet tell.

2. (countable, obsolete) A thing to be doubted; a matter that calls for doubt.
   • 1545, George Joye, chapter 12, in The Exposicion of Daniel the Prophete:

     The trewe inuocacion of God thorow Cryst, thei haue turned it into a dowtfull dubitacion.

3. (countable) A pang or expression of doubt.
   • 1683, John Pordage, edited by Edward Hooker, Theologica Mystica, or The Mystic Divinitie of the Æternal Invisibles, page 99:

     Altercations, disputations and dubitations of, in and about Mystic Theologie.

   • 1841, Thomas Carlyle, chapter 4, in Heroes and Hero Worship:

     [T]he deep earnest soul of the man had fallen into all manner of black scruples, dubitations; he believed himself likely to die soon, and far worse than die.

   • 1864, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “An Evil Eye Looks on the Vicar”, in Wylder’s Hand. […], New York, N.Y.: Carleton, […], published 1865, →OCLC, pages 250–251:

     Poor William Wylder had those special troubles which haunt nervous temperaments and speculative minds, when under the solemn influence of religion. [...] These terrors and dubitations are infections.

Synonyms

• (state of being in doubt): doubtfulness

Related terms

Terms etymologically related to dubitation

• dubious
• dubitable
• dubitate
• dubitative

Translations

process of doubting

• Bulgarian: съмнение (bg) n (sǎmnenie)
• Catalan: dubte (ca) m
• Finnish: epäröinti (fi)
• French: doute (fr)
• German: Zweifeln (de) n, Bezweifeln n
• Italian: dubbio (it)
• Russian: сомне́ние (ru) n (somnénije)
• Spanish: duda (es)
• Turkish: şüphe (tr), tereddüt (tr)

pang or expression of doubt

• Finnish: epäröinti (fi), epäilys (fi)
• French: angoisse (fr), interrogation (fr), anxiété (fr), affres (fr)
• Italian: angoscia (it)
• Spanish: zozobra (es), ansia (es), angustia (es)

References

• “dubitation” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dubitātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dy.bi.ta.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

dubitation f (plural dubitations)

1. (literary) dubitation: the action of putting in doubt, or a state of doubt
2. (rhetoric) a figure of speech, a passage in which a writer or speaker expresses or feigns doubt, for example to forestall objections

Further reading

• “dubitation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dubitātiō.

Noun

dubitation oblique singular, f (oblique plural dubitations, nominative singular dubitation, nominative plural dubitations)

1. doubt
   • 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 183 of this essay:

     Decy la seconde dubitacion se le lepre est maladie de tout le corps

     From this, the second doubt over whether leprosy is a disease of all the body

Descendants

• English: dubitation