doubloon 
They hail succeeded in obtaining from him [the French 
ambassador) a box of doubloons. 
Maeaulay, Hist. Eng., xxiii. 
doubly (ilub'li), adv. 1. In a double or two- 
fold manner ; in twice the quantity or to twice 
the degree : as, to be doubly sensible of an ob- 
ligation. 
For fools arc doiM;/ fools, endeav'rlng to be wise. 
Dryden, lliml ami Panther, 1. 2401. 
When, musing on companions p >MC, 
We doubly feel ourselves almir. 
Scott, M:l] Inic.ll, li , Itlt. 
2. Deceitfully; with duplicity. 
doubt 1 (dout), r. [Early mod. E. dout, doute (the 
6 being inserted in the P. and E. forms in the 
16th century, in ignorant imitation of the orig. 
L. ; it does not occur in early E. or P.) ; < ME. 
douti'/i.ilnirti -H, earlier dutcn, fear, be in fear, also, 
less commonly, doubt, < OF. douter, duter, doter, 
later doubter, mod. P. douter, doubt, fear, = Pr. 
dii)ititr, tloptar = Sp. dudar = Pg. duvidur = It. 
dottare, < L. ditbitare, waver in opinion, be un- 
certain, doubt, hesitate, in form a freq. verb, 
connected with dttbius, wavering in opinion, 
uncertain, doubtful, dubious (see dubious), < 
duo, = E. two, + -bi-, of uncertain origin. Cf. 
Or. oo<//, doubt; Skt. dvaya, twofold; Goth. 
tweifls = Dan. tvivl = Sw. tvifnel = G. zweifel = 
D. twijfel, doubt ; AS. twcd, doubt ; all from the 
word for 'two.' Hence (from OF.) redoubt 1 , 
redoubtable, and (from L. dubitare) dubitate, 
dubitation, etc.] I. intrans. 1. To be uncer- 
tain as to a truth or fact ; be undetermined or 
undecided; waver or fluctuate in opinion; hesi- 
tate. 
Here men doicttn comunly to whom men schulde re- 
store the godes that the! have geten with wronge. 
Wydif, Select Works (ed. Arnold), III. 174. 
To them that doubt of Wine, of chesse, seallea, and of 
tables, thou shalt say that such sports and such drinkes 
are a great sinne. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 267. 
He began to doubt of everything 
Amidst that world of lies. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 173. 
2*. To be in fear; be afraid. 
Tho douteden the schepherdea, & in gret drede weren. 
Oeburt Jetu, 1. 516. 
Who so doutes for her menace, 
Have he never syght off Qoddes face. 
Richard Coer de Lion, 1. 6783. 
Whan the kynge Arthur vndlrstode their menaces, he 
yede oute by a wyndowe of karlion, for he douted inoche 
of treson. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), 1. 108. 
II. trans. 1. To be uncertain as to the truth 
or fact of ; hold in question ; question ; hesitate 
to believe : as, to doubt the truth of a story. 
The phenix, were she never seen, were doubted. 
Fletcher, Valentinian, 1. 2. 
turn not back perverse : 
Milton, P. L., vi. 663. 
Doubt thoti not but I shall go again. 
E'en as I doubt not that fresh misery 
I there shall gather as the days pass by. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 324. 
2. To be expectant or apprehensive of ; believe 
hesitatingly or indefinitely. 
Quath he, "heo duteth me to lite." 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 68. 
I fear I am pursued ; and doubt that I, 
In in v defence, have ki I I'd an officer. 
Beau. andFl., Honest Man's Fortune, ill. 1. 
When we were come to where the three fellows were 
hanged, he said, That lie doubted that that would be Ills 
end also. Banyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 29e. 
If they . 
But that I doubt. 
I doubt her affections are farther engaged than we 
imagine. Sheridan, School for Scandal, i. 1. 
They doubted some sinister motive, or deeper policy than 
appeared In the conduct of the French king. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., li. I. 
3. To distrust ; be uncertain with regard to ; 
be distrustful of: as, to doubt one's ability to 
execute a task. 
Amaiint . . . cutte a-somler the laces of his helme and 
caste it a-wey, and than couered hym with his shelde, 
for sore he dnuted his heede, whereon was no more but 
the coyfe of mayle. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), II. 368. 
He is so devoted to his book, 
As I must tell you true, I doubt his health. 
Ford, Tts Pity, i. 4. 
To teach vain wits a science little known, 
T admire superior sense, and doubt their own ! 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 200. 
4f. To fear; be afraid of. 
Myche dut he his dreme, <S dred hym therfore. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 13834. 
Ho so douteth Jhesu Crist, him ne failleth 11031. 
St. Brandan (ed. Wright), p. 13. 
Philip . . . 
Doughtye men douten for dreedful hee seemes. 
Alisaunder of llacedoine (E. E. T. S.), 1. 167. 
1745 
At soonc as he saiigh the grete devell he lete renne to 
hyra, for nothinge he hym douted. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ill. 442. 
5f. To cause to fear; put in fear; appal; daunt. 
I'll tell ye all my fears; one single valour, 
The virtues of the valiant Caratach, 
More doubts me than all Britain. 
Fletcher, Bonduca, i. 2. 
doubt 1 (dout), . [Early mod. E. doute (the 6 
being inserted as in the verb); < ME. doute, 
dout, earlier dute, fear, doubt, < OF. doute, dute, 
dote, P. doute = Pr. dopte, dubte = 8p. dud<i = 
Pg. duvida = It. dotta, doubt ; from the verb : 
see doubt*, v.] 1. Uncertainty with regard to 
the truth of a given proposition or assertion; 
suspense of judgment arising from defect of 
evidence or of inclination ; an unsettled state 
of opinion; indecision of belief. 
What prevents the admission of a proposition aa cer- 
tain is called doubt. Sir II'. Hamilton. 
When I say that Descartes consecrated doubt, you must 
remember that it was that sort of doubt which Goethe has 
called " the active scepticism, whose whole aim is to con- 
quer itself" ; and not that other sort which la born of flip- 
pancy and ignorance, and whose aim is only to perpetuate 
itself, as an excuse for Idleness and indifference. 
Huxley, Lay Sermons, p. 323. 
2. A matter of uncertainty ; an undecided case 
or proposition ; a ground of hesitation. 
It was doute whether [which] bonya were Petris and 
whether wer Paulls. 
Trevita, tr. of Higden's Polychronicon, V. 77. 
Give me leave to tell you, It would seem a kind of af- 
front to our country to make a doubt of what we pretend 
to be famous for. Cotton, in Walton's Angler, II. 224. 
But though he now prayed wherever he was, at home or 
abroad, in the house or in the field, two doubts still as- 
saulted him : whether he was elected, and whether the day 
of grace was not gone by. Southey, Bunyau, p. 21. 
It Is one thing to believe that a doctrine is false, and 
quite another thing to admit a theoretical doubt about it. 
W. K. Clifford, Lectures, II. 303. 
3. A difficulty suggested or proposed for solu- 
tion ; an objection. 
To every doubt your answer la the same. Blackmore. 
4f. Difficulty ; danger. 
Forced them, how ever strong and stout 
They were, as well approv'd In many a doubt, 
Back to recule. Spenser, F. Q., V. xi. 47. 
5f. Hesitating apprehension ; fear ; dread. 
He nadde of no prince in the worlde doute. 
Robert of Gloucester, p. 89. 
The dute of deth is swithe stronge. 
Old Eng. Miscellany (ed. Morris), p. 44. 
Pope Urban durst not depart for doubt. /;. m.-rs. 
In doubt, in uncertainty; in suspense. 
Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee. 
Deut. xxviii. 66. 
Methodic doubt, doubt feigned for a philosophical pur- 
pose, concerning a proposition really believed, as the 
Cartesian doubt respecting one's own existence. No 
doubt, without question ; certainly. Objective doubt, 
that which Is occasioned by the insufficiency of the evi- 
dence. Subjective doubt, hesitancy in accepting a 
proposition because it is not such as one is antecedently 
inclined to believe. To hang In doubt, to make no 
doubt. See the verbs. =Syn. 1. Indecision, irresolu- 
tion, suspense, hesitation, hesitancy, misgiving, distrust, 
mistrust. 
doubt 2 t, n. [By apheresis from redoubt*, q. v.] 
A redoubt. Da vies. 
Forward be all your hands, 
Urge one another. Thisdou&t down that now betwixt us 
stands, 
Jove will go with us to their walls. 
Chapman, Iliad, xii. 286. 
doubtable (dou'ta-bl), a. [The 6 inserted as 
in the verb; < ME. doutable, datable, < OF. 
"doutable, later doubtable (= Sp. dudable) (cf. 
OF. redoubtable, fearful, mighty, whence E. re- 
doubtable), < douter, doter, doubt: see doubt*, 
.] That may be doubted ; dubitable. [Rare.] 
Sith that thy citee is assayled 
Thourgh knyghtis of thyn owne table, 
God wote thi lordship is doutable .' 
Rom. of the Rose, \. 6274. 
Tlierfore men comen from fer Contrees to have Jugge- 
ment of doutable Causes: and other Juggement usen the! 
nun there. MandeviUe, Travels, p. 172. 
doubtancet, . [The b inserted as in the verb ; 
< ME. doutance, earlier doutaunce, dotaunce, < 
OP. dotance, dutance = Pr. duptansa, doptansa = 
Sp. dudanza, = It. dottanza, < ML. dubitantia, 
doubt, fear, < L. dubitare, doubt : see doubt*, t\] 
Fear; dread; suspicion. Chaucer. 
Eglentine, thys Kinges doughter fre, 
Off Paynymes had gret fere and doubtance. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2130. 
doubted (dou'ted), p. a. [< ME. douted, duted, 
Sp. of douten, etc., fear, doubt: see doubt*, r.] 
. Questioned; not certain or settled. 2f. 
Feared; redoubted; redoubtable. 
doubtfulness 
Domys the doghty, doutid in Aid. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 6360. 
So sholde ye be the more dredde and douted thourgh 
euery londe. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), ill. 681. 
TIM iic thee to those that weld the awful crowne, 
To doubted Knights, whose woundlesse armour rusts. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., October. 
doubtedlyr (dou'ted-li), adv. Doubtfully. 
Good heed would bu had that nothing be daubtedly 
spoken, which may haue double meaning, . . . but that 
all our wordes runne to continue wholy our matter. 
Sir T. Wilton, Art of Rhetoric, p. 108. 
doubter (dou'ter), n. One who doubts: one 
whose opinion is unsettled or whose mind is 
not convinced. 
The unsettled doubters, that are In most danger to be 
seduced. Hammoiul, Works, II. II. 67. 
doubtful (dout'ful), a. [< doubt* + -ful. The 
earlier adj. was doutous : see doubtous.'] 1. Full 
of doubt ; having doubt ; not settled in opinion. 
To assist the doubtful Wouter In the arduous business 
of legislation, a board of magistrates was appointed. 
Ininy, Knickerbocker, p. 155. 
2. Causing doubt ; dubious ; ambiguous ; un- 
certain ; not distinct in character, meaning, or 
appearance; vague: as, a doubtful expression ; 
a doubtful hue. 
A doubtful day 
Of chill and slowly greening spring. 
Whittier, What the Birds Said. 
Till now the doubtful dusk reveal'd 
The knolls once more where, couch'd at ease, 
The white kine gllmmer'd. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, xcv. 
Now the full-leaved trees might well forget 
The changeful agony of doubtful spring. 
William Morrif, Earthly Paradise, I. 280. 
3. Admitting of or subject to doubt; not obvi- 
ous, clear, or certain ; questionable. 
I will adopt some beggar's doubtful Issue, 
Before thou shalt inherit. 
Fletcher (and another), Elder Brother, Iv. 1. 
For where the event of a great action Is left doubtful, 
there the poet is left master. 
Dryden, Don Sebastian, Pref. 
It is always the person of doubtful virtue who is most 
eager to assume the appearance of severe integrity. 
J. T. Trowbridge, Coupon Bonds, p. 108. 
4. Of uncertain issue ; precarious ; shifting. 
Who have sustain'd one day In doubtful flght. 
Milton, P. L., vi. 42S. 
Inspired repulsed battalions to engage, 
And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. 
Adduon, The Campaign. 
6. Of questionable or suspected character. 
She never employed doubtful agents or sinister mea- 
sures. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., il. 10. 
6f. Fearful; apprehensive; suspicious. 
So long they stayed that the King grew doubtfnll of 
their bad vsage, that he swore by the Skies, if they re- 
turned not well, he would haue warres with Opechanka- 
nough so long as he had any thing. 
Quoted in Copt. John Smith's True Travels, II. 86. 
7. Indicating doubt; disturbed by doubt. 
[Bare.] 
With doubtful feet and wavering resolution 
I came. Milton, S. A., 1. 732. 
8. In pros., variable in quantity; capable of 
being pronounced or measured either as a long 
or as a short; common ; dichronous. =syn. 1. Un- 
certain, undecided. 2, Dubious, Equivocal, etc. (see oh- 
ncure, a.) ; problematic, enigmatical. 
doubtfully (dout ' ful - i), adv. In a doubtful 
manner; with doubt or hesitation; so as to in- 
dicate or admit of doubt. 
When we speake or write doubtfully, and that the sence 
may lie taken two wayes, such ambiguous termes they 
call Amphibologia, we call it the ambiguous. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 217. 
I came to the court . . . and very privately discovered 
to her majesty this conspiracy. . . . She took it daubt- 
fully. I departed with fear. 
State Trials, William Parry, an. 1584. 
How doubtfully these spectres fate foretel ! 
In double sense and twilight truth they dwell. 
Di-yden, Tyrannic Love, IT. 1. 
Tints softly with each other blended, 
Hues doubtfully begun and ended. 
tt'vrdfievrth, Bird of Paradise. 
doubtfulness (dout'ful-nes), n. 1. A state of 
doubt or uncertainty of mind; dubiousness; 
suspense ; instability of opinion. 
Faith is utterly taken away. Instead whereof is dis- 
trust and doubtfulness bearing rule. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 29. 
2. Ambiguity ; uncertainty of meaning. 
Here we must be diligent, that . . . there be no doubt- 
fulness in any word, and that alwaies there be one maner 
of words that goe before, and also one maner of wordes 
ende the sentence, plainly and without double voder- 
standing. Sir T. Wilton, Art of Logic, fol. 20. 
3. Uncertainty of event or issue ; indetermi- 
nateness of condition. 
