hesitation
noun
- stop or pause before a decision or action, due to uncertainty or doubt
- act/process of pausing, balking, interrupting flow (often of speech), doubting, reconsidering
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˌhɛzɪˈteɪʃən/ / /ˌhezɪˈtæɪʃən/ / /ˌhezəˈtæɪʃən/
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Latin haereō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -tō ▲ Latin -tō Latin -itō Latin -titō Latin haesitō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin haesitātiōbor. English hesitation From Latin haesitātiōnem, accusative singular of haesitātiō (“hesitating, stammering”), from haesitō (“hesitate”). Displaced native Old English ġewand.
- An act of hesitating
- Doubt; vacillation.
“She carried out the order without hesitation.”
- A faltering in speech; stammering.