doubt

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To think that something is probably not true or unlikely to happen.

   I doubt that the investors will accept our offer.

2. 2
   verb

   To not trust or feel sure about someone or something.

   She began to doubt his honesty after the argument.

3. 3
   noun

   A feeling of being unsure or not believing something.

   There was some doubt about who the child's real father was.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Doubt came through French from Latin dubitare, meaning “to hesitate” or “waver,” from dubium, “doubt.” The French forms had lost the b, which was never pronounced in English; it was added to the spelling as a learned reference to the Latin origin.

Etymology tree Latin dubō Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -tō Latin -itō Latin dubitō Old French doterbor. Middle English douten ▲ Old French doter Old French doutebor. Middle English doute ▲ English dubiousinflu. ▲ Latin dubitōinflu. English doubt The verb is derived from Middle English douten (“to doubt, fear, worry”) [and other forms], from Old French douter, doter, duter (compare Middle French doubter), from Latin dubitāre (“to be uncertain, doubt; to hesitate, waver in coming to an…

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