suspect English · revision 4674

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1340|origins=la suspicere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: verb: /səˈspekt/; noun, adjective: /ˈsʌs.pekt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|suspect]], [[bor|fro|suspect|t=suspicious]], and directly from [[la|suspectus|t=suspected, regarded with mistrust]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the past participle of suspicere “to look up at; to look up to, admire; to look at secretly, mistrust”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from sub- “up to, from below” and specere “to look at”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[ine-pro|*speḱ-|alt=*spek-|t=to observe]].^(Etymonline) The verb is partly from the adjective, and partly from French suspecter and Latin suspectāre “to mistrust”, the frequentative of suspicere.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[suspicion]], [[spy]] and [[inspect]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective, suspected or regarded with mistrust: 1340 in the OED, before 1325 in Barnhart, in Cursor Mundi,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun first meant suspicion or mistrust (about 1386), as in ''to have in suspect''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, to believe someone guilty without proof, is from before 1450, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) To imagine something to be likely is from the 1540s,^(Etymonline) and to doubt or mistrust from the 1560s.^(Etymonline) The noun, a suspected person, is from 1591, the 1590s in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Hoad notes that the adjective fell out of use after about 1700 and the noun after about 1600, until they were revived in the 19th century after the French use of suspect for a person thought hostile to the Revolution.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1325 – adjective, regarded with mistrust.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1386 – noun, suspicion.^(OED 1989)

+ * a. 1450 – verb, to believe guilty.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1540s – to imagine likely.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1591 – noun, a suspected person.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To believe that something is probably true or likely.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To believe that someone is guilty of something, without proof.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To doubt or [[mistrust]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person thought to be guilty of a [[crime]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not to be trusted; open to suspicion: ''a suspect package''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[suspectible]]

+ * [[nonsuspect]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[suspicion]]

+ * [[suspicious]]

+ * [[spy]]

+ * [[inspect]]

+ * [[respect]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}