GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   Compunction , n. [OF. compunction, F. componction, L. compunctio, fr. compungere, compunctum, to prick; com- + pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
   A pricking; stimulation. [Obs.]
   1913 Webster
   That acid and piercing spirit which, with such activity and compunction, invadeth the brains and nostrils.
   Sir T. Browne.
   
   1913 Webster
   A picking of heart; poignant grief proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain; the sting of conscience.
   1913 Webster
   He acknowledged his disloyalty to the king, with expressions of great compunction.
   Clarendon.
   Syn. -- Compunction, Remorse, Contrition.  Remorse is anguish of soul under a sense of guilt or consciousness of having offended God or brought evil upon one's self or others. Compunction is the pain occasioned by a wounded and awakened conscience. Neither of them implies true contrition, which denotes self-condemnation, humiliation, and repentance. We speak of the gnawings of remorse; of compunction for a specific act of transgression; of deep contrition in view of our past lives. See Regret.
   1913 Webster