dought: old variant of doubt or otherwise.

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Ayaz Ahmed Khan - 06 Jan 2004 15:06 GMT

I take the word _dought_ in the following lines from Dickens' _Great
Expectations_ to be a typo, and that instead of which _doubt_ should
have been printed:

If he had shown indifference as a master, I have no dought
I should have returned the compliment as a pupil; he gave
me no such excuse, and each of us did the other justice.

Or, possibly, _dought_ is a old form of doubt, no longer part of the
post-modern English vocabulary or usage.

My OALD and CEED only come so close as mentioning _doughty_.

Signature

Ayaz Ahmed Khan

Yours Forever in, | Webmaster,
Cyberspace. | http://adic.netfirms.com/fastce/home.html

Reply to this Message

Peter Duncanson - 06 Jan 2004 17:08 GMT

>I take the word _dought_ in the following lines from Dickens' _Great
>Expectations_ to be a typo, and that instead of which _doubt_ should
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>Or, possibly, _dought_ is a old form of doubt, no longer part of the
>post-modern English vocabulary or usage.

The OED entry for doubt has other, older, spellings. One of these is dought.

>My OALD and CEED only come so close as mentioning _doughty_.

Doughty is not related to doubt.

Signature

Peter Duncanson
UK
(posting from a.e.u)

Reply to this Message

Alan Jones - 06 Jan 2004 17:48 GMT

> >I take the word _dought_ in the following lines from Dickens' _Great
> >Expectations_ to be a typo, and that instead of which _doubt_ should
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Doughty is not related to doubt.

The usual spelling with a 'b' appears late in the day - a pedantic attempt
to make the word show its ultimate derivation from Latin "dubitum".
Similarly "debt" was once "dette". Milton (d.1674) withstood the change,
knowing that the two words came via French where they had already lost their
"b": you will find "dout" and "dett" in old-spelling editions of his works.
He also has "amiral" for the usual "admiral", since it is derived not from
Latin "admirabilis" but from Arabic (amir or emir = ruler, chieftain). So he
outpedanted the pedants.

Alan Jones

Reply to this Message

Martin Ambuhl - 06 Jan 2004 20:17 GMT

> I take the word _dought_ in the following lines from Dickens' _Great
> Expectations_ to be a typo, and that instead of which _doubt_ should
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> My OALD and CEED only come so close as mentioning _doughty_.

My OED1 says that you have a sharp eye. The first two "dought" headwords
are marked with an obelus for "obsolete" and with the label "Obs." These
are noun and adjective forms related to "doughty." The third "dought"
headword, not given an obelus, is:

Dought, ps. t. of Dow /v./; obs. var. of Doubt, Dout.

Signature

Martin Ambuhl

Reply to this Message

Ayaz Ahmed Khan - 07 Jan 2004 15:03 GMT

"Martin Ambuhl" typed:

>> I take the word _dought_ in the following lines from Dickens'
>> _Great Expectations_ to be a typo, and that instead of which
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> Dought, ps. t. of Dow /v./; obs. var. of Doubt, Dout.

Ah. Thank you to you, Peter, and Alan.

Signature

Ayaz Ahmed Khan

Yours Forever in, | Webmaster,
Cyberspace. | http://adic.netfirms.com/fastce/home.html

Reply to this Message

Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

dought: old variant of doubt or otherwise.