suspicion
Meaning
a feeling or belief that someone is guilty of something dishonest or illegal, or that something bad will happen.
a feeling of doubt or lack of trust.
a very small amount of something.
Structure
Usage
he was arrested on suspicion of theft.
i have a suspicion that she is not telling the whole truth.
there was just a suspicion of a smile on her lips.
Etymology
the word suspicion originates from the latin verb 'suspicere', meaning "to look up at, mistrust, suspect". this verb is a compound of 'sub-', signifying "from below" or "secretly", and 'specere', "to look". thus, the literal sense is "to look at secretly from below", conveying the idea of a wary, distrustful gaze. over time, this action evolved into the noun 'suspicio', denoting the state or feeling of mistrust. entering english via old french 'sospeçon', the word retained its core meaning of a belief in possible wrongdoing or danger, capturing the act of regarding someone or something with concealed doubt.
Analysis
sus is from latin 'sub-', meaning "from below, up from under". pic is from latin 'specere', meaning "to look". ion is a latin-derived noun-forming suffix indicating an action or process.