misgiving

From misgive [1], from mis- +‎ give, from Middle English give (“suggest, given”). Compare given and what gives.

misgiving (plural misgivings)

1. doubt, apprehension, a feeling of dread
   • 1846-1848, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son:

     He could think of her being there, without a lurking misgiving that it would have been better if she had not come.

   • 1900, Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie:

     In the night, or the gloomy chambers of the day, fears and misgivings wax strong, but out in the sunlight there is, for a time, cessation even of the terror of death.

   • 1960 March, J. P. Wilson & E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak - Derby to Manchester: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 149:

     Having got its Act, the M.B.M. & M.J.R. apparently had misgivings about the route, in view of the very heavy engineering works that would be necessary, and on November 9, 1846, the company gave notice of a further bill for a deviated line, which was passed into law on July 22, 1847.

Almost always used in the plural.

• doubt
• See Thesaurus:apprehension

• misgiving in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• misgiving in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911