# dubitation
## English
### Alternative forms

* dubytacion [15th century]
* dubitacion, dubitatioun [16th century]

### Etymology

From Late Middle English dubytacion, from Middle French dubitation, from Latin dubitātiō.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) enPR: dyo͞obĭtāʹshən, jo͞ob-, IPA: /djuːbɪˈteɪʃən/, /dʒuːbɪˈteɪʃən/
* (US) enPR: d(y)o͞obĭtāʹshən, IPA: /ˌdu.bɪˈteɪ.ʃən/, /ˌdju.bɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

dubitation (usually uncountable, plural dubitations)
* (uncountable, archaic) The process of doubting or the state of being in doubt; hesitation, uncertainty.
** circa 1450, Coventry Mystery Plays, page 67 (Shakespeare Society; published 1841–53):
    I [...] Alle that my progenitouris hath [...] seyn, ffeythfully beleve withowtyn alle dubytacion.
** 1570, George Buchanan, Chamæleon, page 51:The Chamæleon [...] eftir sum dubitatioun come to Striueling.
** 1867, George MacDonald, chapter 32, in Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood:All my dubitation and distress were gone, for I had something to do, although what I could not yet tell.
* (countable, obsolete) A thing to be doubted; a matter that calls for doubt.
** 1545, George Joye, chapter 12, in The Exposicion of Daniel the Prophete:The trewe inuocacion of God thorow Cryst, thei haue turned it into a dowtfull dubitacion.
* (countable) A pang or expression of doubt.
** 1683, John Pordage, edited by Edward Hooker, Theologica Mystica, or The Mystic Divinitie of the Æternal Invisibles, page 99:Altercations, disputations and dubitations of, in and about Mystic Theologie.
** 1841, Thomas Carlyle, chapter 4, in Heroes and Hero Worship:[T]he deep earnest soul of the man had fallen into all manner of black scruples, dubitations; he believed himself likely to die soon, and far worse than die.
** 1864, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “An Evil Eye Looks on the Vicar”, in Wylder’s Hand. […], New York, N.Y.: Carleton, […], published 1865, →OCLC, pages 250–251:Poor William Wylder had those special troubles which haunt nervous temperaments and speculative minds, when under the solemn influence of religion. [...] These terrors and dubitations are infections.

#### Synonyms

* (state of being in doubt): doubtfulness

#### Related terms

* dubious
* dubitable
* dubitate
* dubitative

#### Translations
### References

* “dubitation” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dubitātiōnem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dy.bi.ta.sjɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

dubitation f (plural dubitations)
* (literary) dubitation: the action of putting in doubt, or a state of doubt
* (rhetoric) a figure of speech, a passage in which a writer or speaker expresses or feigns doubt, for example to forestall objections

### Further reading

* “dubitation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Old French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dubitātiō.

### Noun

dubitation oblique singular, f (oblique plural dubitations, nominative singular dubitation, nominative plural dubitations)
* doubt
** 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 183 of this essay:Decy la seconde dubitacion se le lepre est maladie de tout le corpsFrom this, the second doubt over whether leprosy is a disease of all the body

#### Descendants

* English: dubitation