Scruple

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈskɹuːpəl/

Definitions

1. A feeling of moral doubt or hesitation about the rightness of an action ; a small unit of weight equal to about 20 grains, used in apothecaries' measurement
2. An ethical reluctance to act because of possible wrongdoing ; a modest measure of mass roughly equivalent to 1.3 grams used in medicine and pharmacy
3. An uneasy sense of conscience that causes a person to question the morality of a decision ; a minor unit in an old system of weight for weighing medicines

Etymology: The most striking thing about "scruple" is its physical origin: the Latin "scrupulus" was a small sharp or pointed stone, the kind that gets into a shoe and makes every step uncomfortable. That image of a tiny irritant gave the Romans a metaphor for mental unease, anxiety, and doubt, and it is that sense that English inherited. The same Latin word also gave a unit of weight. "Scrupulum" was one twenty-fourth of an ounce, and it was a diminutive of "scrupus," meaning a rough or sharp stone. The weight and the pebble share a root, so a tiny measure and a nagging worry come from the same small, sharp object. Behind the Latin, the trail is thought to run back to Greek. "Skuros," meaning chippings of stone, may be related, and it came from "xuron," a razor, from a verb meaning to scrape. The word reached English through Old French, and "scruple" is a doublet of the older "escrupulo" and "escrupulo," forms that came into Spanish and Italian-linked use from the same Latin source.

Synonyms: hesitation, doubt, qualm

Antonyms: certainty, confidence