compunction
/kəmˈpʌŋkʃən/kuhm-PUHNGK-shuhn
/kəmˈpʌŋkʃən/kuhm-PUHNGK-shuhn
Meaningprick strongly
Common meaning: feeling of guilt or regret
- comwith, together; thoroughlySkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 126 · scan
- punctionto prick, pierceLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1491 · scan
‘with, together’ + ‘to prick, pierce’ → compunction
Journey through time
- com — Latin com- “with, together; thoroughly” (path traced)
- punction — Latin pungō, pupugī, pūnctum “to prick, pierce” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as compunctio.
- Latincom- + pungere‘with, together; thoroughly + to prick, pierce’source
- Latincompunctio‘prick strongly’source
- Late Latincompunctionemsource
- Middle Englishmeaning shiftsprick strongly → remorsecompunccioun‘remorse’source
- Englishmeaning shiftsremorse → feeling of guilt or regretcompunction‘feeling of guilt or regret’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin compunctio, which Skeat analyses as com- ‘with, together; thoroughly’ + pungere ‘to prick, pierce’.
Roots
- compunctio Latin “prick strongly”
- pungō, pupugī, pūnctum Latin “to prick, pierce”
Related words
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