pəl| to flee; abscond: |
| to bark; yelp. |
1350–1400; (< French scrupule) < Latin scrūpulus unit of weight, worry, precaution equivalent to scrūp(us) rough pebble + -ulus -ule; replacing earlier scriple, Middle English < Latin scrīpulum (variant scriptulum) small weight, pebble, alteration of scrūpulus by association with scrīptum writing (see script; for sense relation cf. gram)
Related forms
1. qualm, compunction, restraint. 6. waver.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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scruple (ˈskruːpəl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | (often plural) a doubt or hesitation as to what is morally right in a certain situation |
| 2. | archaic a very small amount |
| 3. | a unit of weight equal to 20 grains (1.296 grams) |
| 4. | an ancient Roman unit of weight equivalent to approximately one twenty-fourth of an ounce |
| —vb | |
| 5. | (obsolete when tr) to have doubts (about), esp for a moral reason |
| [C16: from Latin scrūpulus a small weight, from scrūpus rough stone] | |
| 'scrupleless | |
| —adj | |
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scruple
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scruple scru·ple (skr&oomacr;'pəl)
n.
An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action.
A unit of apothecary weight that is equal to about 1.3 grams, or 20 grains.
A minute part or amount.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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scruple
unit of weight in the apothecaries' system, equal to 20 grains, or one-third dram, and equivalent to 1.296 grams. It was sometimes mistakenly assigned to the avoirdupois system. In ancient times, when coinage weights customarily furnished the lower subdivisions of weight systems, the scruple (from Latin scrupulus, "small stone" or "pebble") was a unit of Roman commercial weight as well as a unit of coinage weight. One drachma, the basic Greek silver unit, consisted of three scruples.
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