English Explanatory Dictionary

doubt

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To be undecided about; to lack confidence in; to disbelieve, to question.
  2. To harbour suspicion about; suspect.
  3. To anticipate with dread or fear; to apprehend.
  4. To fill with fear; to affright.
  5. To dread, to fear.
noun
  1. Disbelief or uncertainty (about something); (countable) a particular instance of such disbelief or uncertainty.
  2. A point of uncertainty, especially a yes/no or a multiple-choice question
  3. a question (that one has)

Pronunciation

dout /daʊt/ En-us-doubt.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-doubt.wav /dʌʊt/

Word forms

doubt doubts doubting doubted dout

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin dubō Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -tō Latin -itō Latin dubitō Old French doterbor. Middle English douten ▲ Old French doter Old French doutebor. Middle English doute ▲ English dubiousinflu. ▲ Latin dubitōinflu. English doubt The verb is derived from Middle English douten (“to doubt, fear, worry”) [and other forms], from Old French douter, doter, duter (compare Middle French doubter), from Latin dubitāre (“to be uncertain, doubt; to hesitate, waver in coming to an opinion; to consider, ponder”); the further etymology is uncertain, but one theory is that dubitō may be derived from dubius (“fluctuating, wavering; doubtful, dubious, uncertain”), from duhibius (“held as two”), from duo (“two”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”)) + habeō (“to have, hold”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- (“to grab, take”)). Spelling reformers of the early modern period added the letter b to reflect the Latin root dubitō, but it has never been pronounced in English. The noun is derived from Middle English dout, doute (“uncertainty, hesitation; questionable point; anxiety, fear, reverence”) [and other forms], from Old French doute, dote, dute (“uncertain feeling, doubt”), from doter, douter, duter (“to doubt, fear”) (compare Middle French doubter; modern French douter (“to doubt, suspect”)); see further etymology above. The ESL "question" sense is a semantic loan from Romance cognates: Portuguese dúvida, Spanish duda, Catalan dubte, French doute, Italian dubbio and others, which can all mean "question". Displaced Old English twēo (“doubt”) and twēoġan (“to doubt”).

Synonyms

distrust mistrust disbelief

Antonyms

belief confidence faith tenet

Related words

dubiety dubious

Derived words

doubtable doubter doubting doubtingly doubting Thomas doubting Thomasina I doubt it undoubted undoubtedly undoubting undoubtingly bedoubt benefit of doubt benefit of the doubt beyond a reasonable doubt beyond a reason of a doubt beyond a shadow of a doubt beyond a shadow of doubt beyond doubt beyond reasonable doubt beyond reason of a doubt beyond the shadow of a doubt call into doubt Cartesian doubt doubtance doubtee doubtful doubthouse doubtless doubtmonger doubtsome doubtworthy doubty in doubt little doubt misdoubt no doubt no-doubt reasonable doubt redoubt room for doubt self-doubt shadow of a doubt without a doubt without a shadow of a doubt without doubt
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