dubitation

English

WOTD – 27 January 2011    

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From the French dubitation.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: dyo͞obĭtāʹshən, IPA: /djuːbɪˈteɪʃən/, X-SAMPA: /dju:bI"teIS@n/
• (US) IPA: /ˌdu.bɪˈteɪ.ʃən/, /ˌdju.bɪˈteɪ.ʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

dubitation (usually uncountable; plural dubitations)

1. (uncountable) 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, Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood, chapter 32

     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, The Exposicion of Daniel the Prophete, chapter 12

     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 [aut.] and Edward Hooker [ed.], 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, Heroes and Hero Worship, chapter 4

     [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, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Wylder’s Hand, chapter 43

     These terrors and dubitations are infectious.

Synonyms

• (state of being in doubt): doubtfulness

Related terms

Terms etymologically related to dubitation

dubious

dubitable

dubitate

dubitative

Translations

process of doubting

• Catalan: dubte (ca) m
• Finnish: epäröinti (fi)
• French: doute (fr)
• German: Zweifeln (de) n, Bezweifeln (de) n

• Italian: dubbio (it)
• Russian: сомнение (ru) (somnenije) n
• 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 [2nd ed., 1989]

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French

Etymology

From the Latin dubitātiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA: [dybitasjɔ̃], X-SAMPA: [dybitasjO_~]

Noun

dubitation f (plural dubitations)

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

Descendants

• English: dubitation

References

• "dubitation" in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).