Repugnance
/rɪˈpʌɡ.nəns/noun
A strong feeling of disgust or aversion.
Did you know?Its roots go back to Latin pugnare, “to fight,” the same ancient battle-root behind words like pugnacious and impugn, so repugnance originally meant a kind of inward resistance or combat.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peug-
“to strike, fight”
Latin
Latin
pugnare
“to fight”
Late Latin
Latin
repugnare
“to resist, oppose, fight back”
Old French
Old French
repugner
“to resist, be contrary to”
Middle English
English
repugnaunce
“resistance, opposition, disgust”
Modern English
English
repugnance
“a strong feeling of disgust or aversion”
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