▪ I. doubt, n.1
(daʊt)
Forms: 3–4 dut(e, (4 dote), 3–6 doute, (4–6 dowt(e, douȝt(e, dought(e, dowght), 4–7 dout, 5– doubt, (5–6 doubte, 6 dubte, dowbt).
[ME. a. Of. dute, dote, doute, vbl. n. f. douter to doubt. The spelling douȝte, dought, arose from the spoken identity, which per contra caused doughty to be spelt doubty. As to the mod. spelling with b, see doubt v.]
1. a. The (subjective) state of uncertainty with regard to the truth or reality of anything; undecidedness of belief or opinion. With pl.: A feeling of uncertainty as to something. spec. Uncertainty as to the truth of Christianity or some other religious belief or doctrine (freq. pl. and occas. personified).
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2463 Ne beo þu na þing o dute Of al þet tu ibeden hauest. c 1300 Beket 375 Thanne was the Bischop in gret doute what were therof to done. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 57 Þou man of litil faith, whi had þou doute? 1483 Cath. Angl. 105/2 A Dowte, ambiguitas, dubietas, dubitacio, dubium. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 17 Your wordes bringe me in a doubt. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 17 You ought not to stand in doubt. 1585 Queen Elizabeth in Four C. Eng. Lett. 29, I write not this, my deare brother, for dout. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. ii. 16 Modest Doubt is cal'd The Beacon of the wise. 1708 Stanhope Paraphr. (1709) IV. 67 To remove all Remains of Unbelief and Doubt. 1779 Cowper Hymn, ‘When darkness long’ i, The folly of my doubts and fears. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xcvi, There lives more faith in honest doubt, Believe me, than in half the creeds. 1855 Browning Men & Women I. 216 What have we gained then by our unbelief But a life of doubt diversified by faith, For one of faith diversified by doubt. 1915 G. K. Chesterton Poems 98 John Grubby, who was short and stout And troubled with religious doubt. 1924 C. Mackenzie Heavenly Ladder xxiv. 296 It was all right so long as I said Mass myself; I had no doubts then. 1934 H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. I. iv. 188, I had not yet been confirmed... I suggested that I might have ‘doubts’. 1960 P. Mortimer Saturday Lunch with Brownings 109 For the first time in his life..he had Doubts. 1971 Daily Tel. 8 Apr. 10/6 (heading) 3 per cent. of church-goers have doubts. |
b. The condition of being (objectively) uncertain; a state of affairs such as to give occasion for hesitation or uncertainty. Phr. to give (an accused person) the benefit of the doubt: to give a verdict of Not Guilty where the evidence is conflicting; to assume his innocence rather than guilt; hence in wider use, to incline to the more favourable or kindly decision, estimate, or the like.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22612 (Gött.) Saint paul it sais, it es na dute. 1375 Barbour Bruce xiv. 207 Quhill eftir myd-morne, the fichting Lestit, in-till sic ane dout. 1678 Dryden All for Love iv. i. (Seager) Like A polished glass held to the lips, when life's In doubt. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. vi. 556 It..brought in doubt the sincerity of the former professions. [1844 C. Napier Let. 21 Feb. in W. Napier Life (1857) III. 48, I shall therefore..give him the benefit at your request.] 1848 Bell's Life 9 July 2/3 If he thought he was out, it must suffice; but he ought to have been quite certain, or..to have given the batter the benefit of the doubt. 1860 T. Inman On Myalgia 104 We should more frequently give our patients the ‘benefit of our doubts’, and abstain from attempting to cure an inflammation [etc.]. 1892 Sir A. Kekewich in Law Times Rep. LXVII. 140/1 In a case of this kind I think I ought to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt. 1961 P. Ustinov Loser xi. 259 He deserved the benefit of the doubt, for old times' sake. Ibid. xiii. 284 Perhaps, he now thought, he had just been a microcosm of a world addled by a desperate malady... No, he deserved no benefit of any doubt. |
† 2. A matter or point involved in uncertainty; a doubtful question; a difficulty. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. vi. 134 Whan oon doute is determined and kut awey þer wexen oþer doutes wiþouten noumbre. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xlvii. (1495) 569 No man shal wene that it is doubt or fals that god hath sette vertue in precyous stones. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 41 b, Who will..now and then propose such doubtfull doubtes. 1693 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 420 You doe Likewise alledge that the greatest bodie of Laws were transmitted..by Mr. penn, which is a doubt. |
† 3. a. Apprehension, dread, fear. Obs.
| a 1225 Juliana 28 For dute of deaðe. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 89 He nadde of no prince in þe world doute. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶949 Oonly for the doute of Ihesu Crist. 1411 Rolls of Parlt. III. 650/2, I havyng doute of harme of my body..dyd assemble these persones. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iii. 81 For doubte to be blamed he spored his horse. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xcv. 311 They dare not, for dought of Kyng Charlemayne. 1659 D. Pell Impr. of Sea 511 Being in many fears and doubts of starving. |
† b. A thing to be dreaded; danger, risk. Obs.
| 13.. Coer de L. 2922 It is gret doute he schal us wynne! c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 134 If þat ilke remile peerse þe brayn panne þer is a greet doute in þe caas. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. xi. 47 How ever strong and stout They were, as well approv'd in many a doubt. |
4. Phrases: a. to make doubt: † (a) to hesitate, to scruple (obs.); (b) to doubt, to be uncertain. b. no doubt: undoubtedly, doubtless. † c. out of doubt: without doubt, doubtless (obs.). d. without doubt: (a) certainly, undoubtedly; † (b) without fear, fearlessly (obs.).
| a. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1589) 185 Boleslaus the seconde..made no doubt to take women by violence from their husbands. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxii. 264, I make some doubt, whether the..Proclamation..were ever printed. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 320, I make no doubt that you will prove the truth of your words. |
| b. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 378 And no dowte..siluestre..schulde haue synned more greuously þan giezi did. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 86 Your mother, a notable Gentlewoman (no dout). 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 65 It was done..to the entire Satisfaction of five or six (no doubt) very disinterested Officers. 1885 Manch. Exam. 25 Feb. 5/1 No doubt it was adroit, but the adroitness was of a vulgar kind. |
| c. c 1340 Cursor M. 2276 (Trin.) Þat story telleþ out of doute. 1459 Paston Lett. No. 323 I. 436 As I schal owt of dowght her after doo. 1577 St. Aug. Manual (Longm.) 111 Out of all doubt..their whole soule shall not suffise to reioise to the full. 1656 Cromwell Sp. 17 Sept., Whose ends have, out of doubt, been what I told you. |
| d. a 1300 Cursor M. 2053 (Cott.) Cham wit-outen dout Sal be his brothers vnderlote. Ibid. 6557 (Cott.) Cums again, wit-vten dute. c 1410 Sir Cleges 44 Rech and pore..Schulde be there wythoutton dought. 1556 Aurelio & Isab. (1608) D ij, Withouten doute I sholde merite to lease yow. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 64 This Henricus..was without doubt..the head of the Birkali. 1895 F. Hall Two Trifles vii, Without doubt, in the judgment of many..he has done so. |
5. Comb.
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, cxliv, His doubt-Sprung Pietie has yet a farther Quest. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 393 Against these doubt-mongers. 1895 Tablet 7 Dec. 901 The doubt-excluding certainty required. |
▪ II. † doubt, n.2 Obs. rare—1.
A redoubt.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xii. 286 This doubt downe, that now betwixt us stands. |
▪ III. doubt, v.
(daʊt)
Forms: see doubt n.1 pa. tense and pple. doubted (also 4 dutte, 4–5 dut(e, 5 doute, (dought), pa. pple. 4–5 ydouted).
[ME. duten, douten, a. OF. duter, doter, douter, (14–16th c. also doubter):—L. dubitāre to waver in opinion, hesitate, related to dubius wavering to and fro, dubious. The normal 14th c. forms in Fr. and Eng. were douter, doute; the influence of Latin caused these to be artificially spelt doubt-, which in 17th c. was again abandoned in Fr., but retained in Eng.
Branch II ‘to fear, to be in fear’, a development of the verb in OF., was an early and very prominent sense of the vb. and its derivatives in ME.: cf. also redoubt, etc.]
I. 1. intr. To be in doubt or uncertainty; to be wavering or undecided in opinion or belief. Const. of († at, † in).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21090 (Edin.) [Thomas Didymus] lange he dutid in þe richte. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 100 Of his birth douted thai noht. 1382 Wyclif Luke ix. 8 He doutide, for that it was seid of sum men, for Joon roos aȝen fro deede men. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxxxi. 216 There was none that ought to dout in hym. 1539 Bible (Great) Matt. xxviii. 17 But some douted. 1548 Cranmer Conf. Unwrit. Verities in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. App. AA. 97 The Chyrche wytnesseth them to be true..wherfore it is not lawful to doubt at them. a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 178 Hee that never doubted, scarce ever well-beleeved. 1768 Beattie Minstr. i. xlvii, But let us hope; to doubt is to rebel. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. §6 519 Who never doubted of the final triumph of freedom and the law. |
2. trans. To be uncertain or divided in opinion about; to hesitate to believe or trust; to feel doubt about; to call in question; to mistrust.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 22811 (Trin.) Who so douteþ þis, is childe þe more. 1494 Fabyan Chron. II. ccxli. (R.), The lady who douted those wordes. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. II. 828 Diverse of his housholde servaunts, whome either he suspected, or doubted. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 183 Doctors doubt that. 1680 Dryden Ovid's Ep., Helen to Paris (R.), He..The beauty doubted, but believ'd the wife. 1780 Harris Philol. Enq. Wks. (1841) 461 Because Socrates doubted some things, therefore Arcesilas and Carneades doubted all. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian ii, My lord, you have never yet doubted my word. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Char. Wks. (Bohn) II. 58 They doubt a man's sound judgment if he does not eat with appetite. |
b. with clause, introduced by whether, if, that. (Often with but, but that, when the main clause is negative or interrogative: see but conj. 21.) † Also formerly with inf.
| 1303 Brunne Handl. Synne 857 Hys dyscyplys doutede echoun Wheþer he shulde ryse or noun. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2965 Þe saule..Þat doutes whethir he sal be dampned or save. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 824 Not doubtyng but that..he should finde him faythfull. 1586 A. Day Eng. Sec. i. (1625) 130 Doubting how to have recompence. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 1029, I do not doubt To find friends that will bear me out. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 6 ¶4, I do not doubt but England is at present as polite a Nation as any in the World. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1059 It never was doubted, but that one partner might bind the rest. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 9, I doubt whether English cookery is not better. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. Pref. 5 Schiller doubted that a poetic measure could be formed capable of holding Goethe's plan. 1891 Law Times XCII. 107/1 The master doubted if all remedies were not barred by the lapse of time. |
† 3. To hesitate, scruple, delay: with inf.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 105/2 To Dowte; cunctari..herere, hesare. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. l. 3 Our God shall come in hast, to speake he shall not doubt. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 7, I dout not to request and earnestly beseeche you, to returne. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 85/2 Plato doubteth not to write in this manner. 1743 Fielding Journ. i. ii, Mr. Locke hath not doubted to assert, that you may see a spirit in open daylight. |
4. impers. To cause to doubt, make doubtful.
| 18.. Whittier Pr. Wks. (1889) II. 20 This, he says, somewhat doubted him at first, as the book was not canonical. |
II. 5. trans. To dread, fear, be afraid of. † a. with simple object. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 244 Þe deouel of helle duteð ham swuðe. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 276 Edmond..doutede God þoru alle thyng. a 1300 Cursor M. 12571 (Cott.) Þai him luued and doted ai. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13834 Myche dut he his dreme, & dred hym þerfore. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour xxxiv. 48 Ye shulde love and doute your husbonde. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxix. 43 He made many to be slayne, wherby he was so doughted. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §329 (1810) 339 St. Ann's Chapel is..very near the sea, yet doubts not drowning. 1664 Flodden F. v. 46 No English-man Scots more did doubt. |
b. With infinitive phrase or objective clause: To fear, be afraid (that something uncertain will take or has taken place). arch. and dial.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10869 (Cott.) Þis leuedi nathing doted sco þat godd ne moght his will do. Ibid. 15171 (Cott.) Þe fleche was dutand for to dei. c 1450 Merlin 6 He dought that he myght not wynne hem. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 265 They doubted to fall in their handes. 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 309, I doubt lest we are gone out of the waye. 1665 Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 171 Doubting that all will break in pieces in the kingdom. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. 237, I doubt not any ones contradicting this Journal. 1816 Scott Antiq. vii, But I doubt, I doubt, I have been beguiled. 1820 Shelley Let. Pr. Wks. 1888 II. 321, I doubt that they will not contain the latest and most important news. Mod. dial. I doubt we are too late. |
6. In weakened sense (app. influenced by I.): a. To anticipate with apprehension, to apprehend (something feared or undesired).
| 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 190 Ay dowting deth by cursed gyle and treason. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. ii. xii, Doubting nothing more then least they should shift off the battell for feare. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. ii. ii. 588 Still I must doubt some Mystery of Mischief. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xi, Fear nought—nay, that I need not say—But—doubt not aught from mine array. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. ii. i. II. 365 They doubted some sinister motive, or deeper policy than appeared in the conduct of the French king. |
b. To suspect, have suspicions about. arch.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 88 Before..doubting the malicious dealings of the adverse parties against me. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 865 The defendants doubting such a matter, by diligent listening..discovered their works. 1875 Howells Foregone Concl. 17 Don Ippolito, whom he had begun by doubting for a spy. |
c. With infin. phrase or clause: To apprehend; to suspect. arch.
| 1574 T. Hill Conject. Weather ii, The pinne or web is likewise to be doubted to happen in that yeare. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. i. iv. (1622) 6 Some perill might ensue, if he should doubt that they perceiued his dissimulation. 1705 Wesley in Hearne Collect. 28 Sept., My Flax [was] I doubt willfully fir'd and burnt. 1879 Trollope Thackeray 148, I doubt that Thackeray did not write the Latin epitaph. |
† 7. refl. To fear; to be afraid. [= OF. se douter.] Cf. fear v. 3. Obs. or arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6656 (Cott.) His folk..duted þam to cum him nerr. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 41 Doute þe of non enmys, þat comes vp on þe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 12918 Ho dout hir full deply, for drede of þe kyng. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxviii. 278, I doubte me nothynge of them. 1607 Shakes. Timon i. ii. 159 Faith..would not hold taking, I doubt me. 1820 Scott Monast. vii, I doubt me his wits have gone a bell-wavering by the road. |
† 8. intr. To be fear; to be afraid of. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1334 (Gött.) He loked..And sau thinges þat gert him dute. c 1340 Ibid. 21870 (Trin.) Mony mon þerof shal doute. c 1500 Lancelot 1827 It..makith realmys and puple boith to dout. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 94 Help al men quhilk ar vexit in thair hartt doutand for thair sinnis. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. II. 19 The French king who now began to doubt of the puissance of king William, as foreseeing how much it might preiudice him. |
† b. to doubt of: to fear for, be in fear about.
| 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 38 Euery one doubted of his owne life. |
† 9. impers. To make (a person) afraid. to be doubted, to be afraid. Obs.
| c 1315 Shoreham 93 Hym ne douteth of no breche Of Godes hestes healde. a 1400–50 Alexander 3555 (MS. Ashm.) All driȝtens & dewessis ere dute of my name. 1490 Plumpton Corr. 96, I am douted that he vary from his grant. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. Pref. (1622) 16 It's want of reason, or it's reasons want Which doubts the minde, and Judgment so doth daunt. a 1625 Fletcher Bonduca i. ii, The virtues of the valiant Caratach, More doubts me than all Britain. |