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scruple

 - 5 dictionary results

scru⋅ple

  [skroo-puhl] noun, verb, -pled, -pling.
Use scruple in a Sentence
–noun
1. a moral or ethical consideration or standard that acts as a restraining force or inhibits certain actions.
2. a very small portion or amount.
3. a unit of weight equal to 20 grains (1.295 grams) or 1/3 of a dram, apothecaries' weight.
4. an ancient Roman unit of weight equivalent to 1/24 of an ounce or 1/288 of an as or pound. Compare as 2 (def. 2).
–verb (used without object)
5. to have scruples.
–verb (used with object)
6. to have scruples about; hesitate at.
Origin:
1350–1400; (< F scrupule) < L scrūpulus unit of weight, worry, precaution equiv. to scrūp(us) rough pebble + -ulus -ule; r. earlier scriple, ME < L scrīpulum (var. scriptulum) small weight, pebble, alter. of scrūpulus by assoc. with scrīptum writing (see script; for sense relation cf. gram )

Related forms:
scru⋅ple⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
1. qualm, compunction, restraint. 6. waver.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To scruple
scru·ple   (skrōō'pəl)   
n.  

  1. An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action. See Synonyms at qualm.

  2. Abbr. sc. or scr. A unit of apothecary weight equal to about 1.3 grams, or 20 grains.

  3. A minute part or amount.

intr.v.   scru·pled, scru·pling, scru·ples
To hesitate as a result of conscience or principle: "A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket" (John Dennis).

[Middle English scrupul, from Old French scrupule, from Latin scrūpulus, small unit of measurement, scruple, diminutive of scrūpus, rough stone, scruple.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: scru·ple
Pronunciation: 'skrü-p&l
Function: noun
: a unit of apothecaries' weight equal to 20 grains or 1/3dram or 1.296 grams
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

scruple scru·ple (skr&oomacr;'pəl)
n.

  1. An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action.

  2. A unit of apothecary weight that is equal to about 1.3 grams, or 20 grains.

  3. A minute part or amount.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

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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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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