qualm
[kwahm, kwawm]
noun
an uneasy feeling or pang of conscience as to conduct; compunction: He has no qualms about lying.
a sudden feeling of apprehensive uneasiness; misgiving: a sudden qualm about the success of the venture.
a sudden sensation or onset of faintness or illness, especially of nausea.
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RELATED WORDS
nervousness, anxiety, hesitation, apprehension, twinge, reluctance, unease, misgiving, objection, pang, remorse, disquiet, uneasiness, conscience, compunction, perturbation, regret, agitation, insecurity, uncertainty
Nearby words
- quality point,
- quality point average,
- quality time,
- quality-assure,
- quality-of-life,
- qualmish,
- qualms,
- quamash,
- quame,
- quamin
Origin of qualm
First recorded in 1520–30; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for qualm
qualm
noun
Word Origin for qualm
Old English cwealm death or plague; related to Old High German qualm despair, Dutch kwalm smoke, stench
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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qualm
Old English cwealm (West Saxon) "death, murder, slaughter; disaster; plague; torment," utcualm (Anglian) "utter destruction," probably related to cwellan "to kill, murder, execute," cwelan "to die" (see quell). Sense softened to "feeling of faintness" 1520s; figurative meaning "uneasiness, doubt" is from 1550s; that of "scruple of conscience" is 1640s.
Evidence of a direct path from the Old English to the modern senses is wanting, but it is plausible, via the notion of "fit of sickness." The other suggested etymology, less satisfying, is to take the "fit of uneasiness" sense from Dutch kwalm "steam, vapor, mist" (cognate with German Qualm "smoke, vapor, stupor"), which also might be ultimately from the same Germanic root as quell.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper