different between scruple vs falter

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

English

Alternative forms

• faulter (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English falteren (“to stagger”), further origin unknown. Possibly from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse faltrask (“be encumbered”). May also be a frequentative of fold, although the change from d to t is unusual.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?f??lt?(r)/, /?f?lt?(r)/

Noun

falter

1. unsteadiness.

Translations

Verb

falter (third-person singular simple present falters, present participle faltering, simple past and past participle faltered)

1. To waver or be unsteady; to weaken or trail off.
   • 1672, Richard Wiseman, A Treatise of Wounds

     He found his legs falter.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner.
   • 1807, Lord Byron, Childish Recollections

     And here he faltered forth his last farewell.
3. To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; said of the mind or of thought.
   • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening

     Here indeed the power of distinctly conceiving of space and distance falters.

4. To stumble.
5. (figuratively) To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause).

   • And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter.

6. To hesitate in purpose or action.
7. To cleanse or sift, as barley.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References