Where does “unscrupulously” come from?
Unscrupulously derives from English unscrupulous, which combines the prefix un- with English scrupulous, ultimately tracing through Latin unus and Proto-Indo-European óynos and ano- to the root (s)ker-.
unscrupulously (English): In an unscrupulous manner
Definitions
- In an unscrupulous manner
Ancestry of “unscrupulously”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | unscrupulous | Without scruples; immoral; Contemptuous of what... |
| 2 | English | scrupulous | Exactly and carefully conducted; Having scruples... |
| 3 | Middle French | scrupuleux | — |
| 4 | Latin | scrūpulōsus | full of sharp stones |
| 5 | Latin | scrūpulus | a small, sharp or pointed stone |
| 6 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |