dubitation

noun

1. (archaic, uncountable, usually)The process of doubting or the state of being in doubt; hesitation, uncertainty.

   “I … Alle that my progenitouris hath … seyn, ffeythfully beleve withowtyn alle dubytacion.”

   “The Chamæleon [...] eftir sum dubitatioun come to Striueling.”

   “All my dubitation and distress were gone, for I had something to do, although what I could not yet tell.”

2. (countable, obsolete, usually)A thing to be doubted; a matter that calls for doubt.

   “The trewe inuocacion of God thorow Cryst, thei haue turned it into a dowtfull dubitacion.”

3. (countable, usually)A pang or expression of doubt.

   “Altercations, disputations and dubitations of, in and about Mystic Theologie.”

   “[T]he deep earnest soul of the man had fallen into all manner of black scruples, dubitations; he believed himself likely to die soon, and far worse than die.”

   “Poor William Wylder had those special troubles which haunt nervous temperaments and speculative minds, when under the solemn influence of religion. [...] These terrors and dubitations are infections.”