Where does “scrupulous” come from?
Scrupulous comes from Middle French scrupuleux, from Latin scrupulosus, from Latin scrupulus, a diminutive formation from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker-, meaning to cut or separate.
scrupulous (English): Exactly and carefully conducted; Having scruples...
Definitions
- Exactly and carefully conducted; Having scruples...
Ancestry of “scrupulous”, step by step
scrupulous traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle French scrupuleux
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | scrupuleux | — |
| 2 | Latin | scrūpulōsus | full of sharp stones |
| 3 | Latin | scrūpulus | a small, sharp or pointed stone |
| 4 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via Latin scrupulositas
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | scrupulositas | — |