different between fluctuate vs scruple

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fluctuo, fluctuatus.

Verb

fluctuate (third-person singular simple present fluctuates, present participle fluctuating, simple past and past participle fluctuated)

1. (intransitive) To vary irregularly; to swing.
2. (intransitive) To undulate. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
3. (intransitive) To be irresolute; to waver.

   I fluctuated between wishing he was back home and wishing I'd never met him.

4. (transitive) To cause to vary irregularly.

Related terms

• fluctuant

Translations

Latin

Verb

fl?ctu?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of fl?ctu?

English

Etymology

From Old French scrupule, from Latin scr?pulus (“(literally) a small sharp or pointed stone; the twenty-fourth part of an ounce; uneasiness of mind, anxiety, doubt, trouble; scruple”), diminutive of scr?pus (“a rough or sharp stone; anxiety, uneasiness”); perhaps akin to Ancient Greek ?????? (skúros, “the chippings of stone”), from ????? (xurón, “razor”), from ??? (xú?, “to scrape”), from Proto-Indo-European *ksunyo-.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sk?u?p?l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sk?up?l/
• Rhymes: -u?p?l
• Hyphenation: scru?ple

Noun

scruple (plural scruples)

1. (pharmacy) A weight of ¹?₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ?).

   Synonym: (abbreviation) s.ap.
2. (obsolete, by extension) A very small quantity; a particle.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:modicum
3. (obsolete) A doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity.
4. Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience.
5. A Hebrew unit of time equal to ¹?₁₀₈₀ hour.

Derived terms

• scrupleless
• scrupulosity
• scrupulous
• scrupulously
• scrupulousness
• unscrupulous
• unscrupulously
• unscrupulousness

Translations

Verb

scruple (third-person singular simple present scruples, present participle scrupling, simple past and past participle scrupled)

1. (intransitive) To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience.
2. (intransitive) To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.
3. (transitive) To regard with suspicion; to question.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To question the truth of (a fact, etc.); to doubt; to hesitate to believe, to question.

Translations

Further reading

• conscience on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• scruple in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• scruple in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• curples