scruple

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“
Norma had said long ago that, "any woman who trifled with her happiness because of a scruple was a fool."

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Definitions (30)

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  1. noun An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action. See Synonyms at qualm.
  2. noun A unit of apothecary weight equal to about 1.3 grams, or 20 grains.
  3. noun A minute part or amount.
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English scrupul, from Old French scrupule, from Latin scrūpulus, small unit of measurement, scruple, diminutive of scrūpus, rough stone, scruple.

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  1. from Old French *scruple, scrupule, French scrupule = Spanish escrúpulo = Portuguese escrupulo, escrupolo = Italian scrupolo, scrupulo = Dutch scrupel = G. Danish Swedish skrupel, a scruple of conscience, in Old French and Old Italian also literally a sharp stone, from Latin scrupulus, uneasiness of mind, trouble, anxiety, doubt, scruple, literally a small rough or sharp stone (so only in a Late Latin grammarian), diminutive of scrupus, a rough or sharp stone, also fig. anxiety, doubt, scruple; cf. Greek σκύρος, chippings of stone, ξυρόν, a razor, = Sanskrit kshura, a razor. Cf. scruple.
  2. from scruple, n.
  3. from Middle English *scruple, scriple, from Old French*scruple, scriple, scrupule, scriptule = Spanish escrúpulo = Portuguese escrupulo, escrupolo = Italian scrupolo, scrupulo, Old Italian also scrittulo = Dutch scrupel = G. Swedish Danish skrupel, a scruple (weight or measure), from Latin scrupulus, generally in neuter, scrupulum, more commonly scripulum (sometimes scriptulum, scriptlum, as if from scribere, past participle scriptus, write, like Greek γράμμα, a gram, from γράφειν, write), the smallest division of weight, the 24th part of an ounce, a scruple, also the 24th part of an uncia of land, the 24th part of an hour, any very small measure; usually identified with L. scrupulus, a small stone (see scruple), but by some referred, as ‘a part cut off,’ directly to √ skar, cut: see shear.
 

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/ˈskrupl/
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