Suggestioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An idea or proposal put forward for consideration ; an inner prompting or temptation urging a person toward sin or wrongdoing
2. A proposal offered for someone to weigh up ; an insinuating urge or temptation that pulls the mind toward evil
3. An idea offered as a course of action ; a secret or insidious incitement that tempts a person toward wickedness

Etymology: "Suggestioun" is a Middle English spelling of a word that came into English from Old French "suggestion," itself borrowed from Latin "suggestio," a noun from "suggerere," meaning "to bring under, supply, or prompt." The Latin verb combined "sub" (under) with "gerere" (to carry or bear), so its literal sense was something like carrying something up from below into view. Latin writers used it for secretly putting an idea into someone's mind, which is where the modern sense of an offered proposal grew from. English speakers first recorded the word in the 14th century, and Chaucer and his contemporaries used the "-ioun" spelling that matches French usage of the period. The early English senses were close to the Latin: a prompting or inward urging, often to evil, and a hint or insinuation. The meaning of a proposal put forward for consideration developed later, and the spelling settled into the modern "suggestion" by the early modern period.