Where does “scruple” come from?
Scruple comes from Old French scrupule, from Latin scrupulus, diminutive of scrupa, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to cut or scratch.
scruple (English): A weight of 1⁄288 of a pound, that is, twenty...
Definitions
- A weight of 1⁄288 of a pound, that is, twenty...
Ancestry of “scruple”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | scrupule | — |
| 2 | Latin | scrūpulus | a small, sharp or pointed stone |
| 3 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |