escrúpulo

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.?

Latin scrūpus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ulus

Latin scrūpulusubor.

Portuguese escrúpulo

Unadapted borrowing from Latin scrūpulus. Doublet of escrópulo. Cognate with Spanish escrúpulo.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈkɾu.pu.lu/, /esˈkɾu.pu.lu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /isˈkɾu.pu.lu/, /esˈkɾu.pu.lu/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃˈkɾu.pu.lu/, /eʃˈkɾu.pu.lu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /esˈkɾu.pu.lo/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃˈkɾu.pu.lu/

• Rhymes: -upulu
• Hyphenation: es‧crú‧pu‧lo

Noun

escrúpulo m (plural escrúpulos)

1. scruple (doubt concerning the morality of some action)

   Synonyms: ansiedade, dúvida, hesitação

2. apprehension (uneasy doubt concerning other issues, especially carefulness or pickiness about food)
3. (historical) alternative form of escrópulo: a traditional unit of mass

Derived terms

• escrupularia
• escrupulear
  • escrupuleado
• escrupulizar
  • escrupulizado
• escrupulosidade
• escrupuloso
  • escrupulosamente
  • inescrupuloso

Related terms

• escrutação
• escrutar
  • escrutado
  • escrutável
    • inescrutável

Further reading

• “escrúpulo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “escrúpulo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.?

Latin scrūpus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ulus

Latin scrūpulusubor.

Spanish escrúpulo

Unadapted borrowing from Latin scrūpulus. Cognate with Portuguese escrópulo, escrúpulo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈkɾupulo/ [esˈkɾu.pu.lo]
• Rhymes: -upulo
• Syllabification: es‧crú‧pu‧lo

Noun

escrúpulo m (plural escrúpulos)

1. scruple (doubt concerning the morality of some action)
2. apprehension (uneasy doubt concerning other issues, especially carefulness or pickiness about food)
3. care (exactitude or rigor in the performance of some action)
4. (historical) Spanish scruple, escrupulo (a traditional unit of mass equivalent to about 1.2 g)

   Coordinate terms: grano (¹⁄₂₄ escrúpulo), tomín (¹⁄₂ escrúpulo), adarme (1+¹⁄₂ escrúpulo), ochava (3 escrúpulos), castellano (6 escrúpulo), onza (24 escrúpulo)

5. (historical) English or American scruple (a unit of mass equivalent to about 1.3 g)
6. (astronomy, geometry, historical) synonym of minuto: minute (¹⁄₆₀ of a degree)

Derived terms

• escrupulizar
• escrúpulo de Marigargajo
• escrúpulo de monja
• escrúpulo del padre Gargajo
• escrupuloso
  • escrupulosamente

Descendants

• → English: escrupulo

Further reading

• “escrúpulo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025