Ichneutymon #2: doubt

February 4, 2025 - 3 minutes read - 520 words

“There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt…” - Radiohead, “Pyramid Song” (from the album Amnesiac)

In these uncertain and doubtful times, well, I thought it would be helpful to go through the etymology of the word “doubt.” Now, of course, before it makes its way to English, it goes through a lot of intermediary languages, but my concern is generally with penetrating back to the source. “Doubt” comes from Latin dubitare, which means “to be uncertain, to be in doubt, to waver in opinion or judgment” (L&S, i.e., Lewis & Short’s A Latin Dictionary, s.v. dubito). More directly from dubitare, we get things like “dubious” (= “doubtful”), “indubitable” (= “undoubtable”), “indubitably,” “dubitation” (though that’s admittedly rather archaic; lit. “the state of doubting, the action of doubting”). And of course, once it morphs to “doubt” (through the French, which lengthens the Latin long -u- to the diphthong -ou), we get “undoubtedly,” “doubtful,” and I’m sure there are others I’m missing. English “redoubt” is not related, though; it comes, via French, from Latin reducere, “to withdraw, draw back,” meaning “a place of refuge” (= a place to which one withdraws).

Let’s drill down a little deeper even on Latin dubitare, though. dubitare is a compound of duo-, “two” (= Greek δύω, duo, “two) + habere, “to have.” Well, where’s the -it- come from, then, you may ask? Well, the -it- suffix makes the verb what is called “frequentative,” meaning it refers to an action done over and over again (= “frequently”). Cf. the verb habitare, “to live, dwell,” which is the frequentative of habere, and literally means “to have over and over again/repeatedly.” So if you “have” a place repeatedly, you live there! So what we’re looking at is really duo- + habitare, literally “to have two things over and over again/repeatedly.” If you look at it literally, then, we’re thinking of the concept of having two things (e.g., in one’s mind) repeatedly. Debating, choosing, fretting about which of the two you will choose. Hence the idea of “doubt” arises, the idea of being “of two minds,” in a way, about something, not just once, but constantly.

Related also is the Latin adjective dubius, “doubtful, uncertain,” whence we get English “dubious.” If one is “dubious,” they’re “of two minds” about something, caught between two choices. Cf. also the synonymous Latin adjective anceps (genitive ancipitis), “doubtful, uncertain,” but literally meaning “two-headed” (an-, i.e., ambi-, “round, around,” itself from Greek ἀμφί amphi, “about, around” but also “on both sides” + caput, “head”). L&S also suggests Greek δοιἀζειν doiazein, “to be of two minds, consider in two ways” as an etymology for dubitare, which would make sense (from Greek δοιός doios, “double, twofold”).

Well, what do y’all think? Does it make sense for someone experiencing “doubt” to be “of two minds,” stuck between two choices? I think the etymology is really cool, and really gives an insight into the thought processes of the ancients when these various words were coined.

Take care of each other, and hold your loved ones tight in these again, doubtful and uncertain times. Thanks for reading, friends <3