Etymograph

English

suspicion

Suspicion comes from Latin suspicere, from sub ‘under, beneath, below’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, to look, to observe’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-1‘to see, to look, to observe’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upó2‘up; from below’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*supo2‘under’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsub3‘under, beneath, below’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuspicere1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuspīciō1
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suspecioun1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1620suspicion1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English suspicion
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin sub
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin sub-
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1620, Giovanni Bocaccio, The Decameron: “[…]purſued his vnneighbourly purpoſe in ſuch ſort: that hee…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-Wiktionary, English suspicion‘to see, to look, to observe’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upóWiktionary, Latin sub‘up; from below’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*supoWiktionary, Latin sub‘under’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubWiktionary, Latin sub-‘under, beneath, below’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuspicereWiktionary, English suspicion
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuspīciōWiktionary, English suspicion
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suspeciounWiktionary, English suspicion
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1620suspicionWiktionary, English suspicion. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1620, Giovanni Bocaccio, The Decameron: “[…]purſued his vnneighbourly purpoſe in ſuch ſort: that hee…”

Formed from suspect + -ion

Latin suspiciō ‘mistrust’

Latin suspectus

Old French suspect

English suspect

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, to look, to observe’

special, respect, despite, specific, species, perspective, scope, aspect, inspector, spectrum, spy, spectacular, expectation, inspection, spite, speculation, skeptical, spectacle, inspect, specify, specimen, speculative, retrospective, spectator, spice, speculate, retrospect, expectant, specter, espionage, skeptic, conspicuous, macroscopic, spectroscopic, endoscopic, speculator, circumspect, espy, specular, specious, 117 more

through Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up’

up, above, upper, sum, upward, oft, hypo, 9 more

through Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’

suggest, sub, subaltern, 5 more

through Latin suspīciō

suspect, 3 more

Today it means

noun The act of suspecting something or someone, especially of something wrong.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “suspicion”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin sub, Latin sub-. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- / suspicion

Shirt and support for this word