Etymologically
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doubt

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /daʊt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English duten, douten,[2][3] borrowed from Old French douter (“to doubt, be doubtful, be afraid”), doter,[3][2][4] from Latin dubitō (“I doubt, hesitate, waver in opinion”),[3][2] related to dubius “uncertain”, the source of dubious,[2][4] from duo “two”, with the sense “of two minds, undecided between two things”.[3] The noun is from Old French doute, from the verb.[2][3] The -b- was put back in French and English spelling by scribes in imitation of Latin,[3][4] as early as Gower (1393) and regularly from Thomas More (1513);[2] French dropped it again in the 17th century, but English kept it, though it was never pronounced.[3][5] The word replaced Old English twēogan, from twēo “two”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To fear, be afraid”, a sense now obsolete: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,[2] about 1200;[3] the noun, “uncertainty”, is also from about 1200.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “fear” developed in Old French and passed into English.[3] The meaning “to be uncertain, waver in opinion” is attested from about 1300,[3][6] and the transitive “to be uncertain of the truth of, to distrust” from about 1300 too.[3] The noun's sense “fear, dread” (before 1225) is also obsolete.[6] A matter of uncertainty is a doubt from the late 14th century,[3] and no doubt, “certainly”, is from about 1400.[3] In Scots and northern English dialects I doubt still means “I fear, I suspect”.[7][8] Doubtless is from about 1380, in Chaucer, and doubtful from about 1395, in the Wycliffe Bible.[2] The first doubting Thomas was the apostle who would not believe Christ had risen until he had touched his wounds.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – verb, to fear; noun, uncertainty.[2][3]
  • c. 1300 – to be uncertain.[3][6]
  • c. 1380 – doubtless.[2]
  • 1393 – spelling with -b-.[2]
  • c. 1395 – doubtful.[2]
  • c. 1400 – no doubt.[3]
  • 1513 – the -b- spelling regular.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A feeling of uncertainty or of not being convinced.
  2. A reason for uncertainty: doubts about the plan.
  3. no doubt, without doubt: Certainly.

Verb

  1. To be uncertain about; to question the truth of.
  2. To distrust.
  3. To think unlikely: I doubt he'll come.
  4. (archaic, dialect) To fear or suspect.

Word family

  • doubter
  • doubtable
  • doubtingly
  • doubtably
  • doubtingness
  • undoubted
  • undoubting
  • misdoubt
  • dubiety
  • dubious
  • doubtful
  • doubtless
  • dubitable
  • indubitable

Usage notes

A separate doubt, “a redoubt”, is from about 1611.[6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster