Etymologically
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skepticism

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Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈskɛp.tɪˌsɪ.zəm/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English skeptic + -ism.[2][3] Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com instead give New Latin scepticismus, from Latin scepticus (“skeptic”) and -ismus,[4][5] and Johnson (1755) derived it from French scepticisme.[6] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek σκεπτικός (skeptikós, “inquiring, reflective”), the name taken by the followers of the philosopher Pyrrho, who lived about 360 to 270 BC,[2][7] related to σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to reflect, look, examine”),[2][7] from a metathesized form of Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).[2][7] Before it, English had borrowed skepsis, from σκέψις (sképsis), for philosophic doubt in the 1650s.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sceptical attitude to some branch of knowledge; doubt or incredulity about the truth of an assertion: 1646 in OED 1989,[8] the date Merriam-Webster also gives;[4][9] Etymonline dates the sense "mistrust, doubt, disbelief" to the 1640s.[2]

Semantic evolution

The philosophical sense, the doctrine of the ancient Sceptics that real knowledge of any kind is unattainable, is recorded from 1652,[8][3] and the Shorter Oxford equates it with Pyrrhonism.[3] Johnson (1755) defined the word as universal doubt, or the pretence or profession of it, quoting Dryden.[6] From 1800 it was used specifically of doubt or disbelief in the fundamental principles of the Christian religion.[2][8] Modern dictionaries also describe a method of suspended judgment and systematic doubt,[9] and the doctrine that inquiry must proceed by doubting in order to reach approximate or relative certainty.[10]

Timeline

  • 1646 – doubt about the truth of something.[8][4]
  • 1650s – skepsis, philosophic doubt.[2]
  • 1652 – the doctrine of the Sceptics.[8]
  • 1755 – Johnson: universal doubt.[6]
  • 1800 – doubt or disbelief in Christianity.[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A doubting or questioning attitude: Her colleagues greeted the announcement with open skepticism.[9][10][4]
  2. (philosophy) The doctrine that true knowledge is impossible, or that all knowledge is uncertain.[4][10][3]
  3. A method of suspended judgment and systematic doubt.[9]
  4. Doubt or disbelief about religious teachings, especially those of Christianity.[10][8][2]

Word family

  • antiskepticism

Usage notes

Skepticism is the usual American spelling and scepticism the British; the AHD treats scepticism as a variant,[10] and the Shorter Oxford labels the spelling with k archaic and North American.[3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin