Etymologically
Log in

dejected

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word dejected

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1581 J. Marbeck, Booke of Notes and Common Places More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin iaciō

Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈdʒɛktəd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English deject + -ed, the past participle of the verb used as an adjective.[2][3][4][5] The verb deject, recorded from about 1420 in the sense "to throw down",[2][3] comes from Latin dēiectus, the past participle of dēiciō (“to throw down”),[2][3][6] formed from dē- (“down”) and iaciō (“to throw”),[2][3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *ye- (“to throw, impel”).[3] The bare participle, without -ed, was already used as an adjective meaning "downcast" from 1528.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Low in spirits, disheartened: 1581, in John Marbeck's Booke of Notes and Common Places.[2][7][8] The verb was first recorded in the same sense, to dishearten, in the same book of 1581.[2]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense came first for the adjective, though the verb behind it had begun with the literal meaning "to cast down".[2][3] Literal and physical senses of the adjective followed: of the eyes, downcast (1600), and of a person's look or bearing, showing low spirits (1600).[2][8] Shakespeare used it in King Lear (1608) for "lowered in condition", a sense that died out by 1721.[2][7] The literal "thrown down" is recorded from 1682 and is now archaic,[2][7] and heraldry uses it for a charge bent downwards (1889).[2] Webster (1828) glossed it as cast down, depressed, grieved and discouraged.[9]

Timeline

  • 1581 – depressed in spirits, disheartened.[2][7]
  • 1600 – of the eyes, downcast; of the face or manner, showing dejection.[2]
  • 1608 – lowered in condition or rank (obsolete by 1721).[2]
  • 1682 – thrown down, overthrown.[2]
  • 1889 – in heraldry, bent downwards.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sad and low in spirits; depressed or despondent: The players walked off the field looking dejected.[10][7][2]
  2. Of the eyes, downcast.[2][7]
  3. (heraldry) Bent downwards.[2]
  4. (archaic) Thrown down; prostrate.[2][7]
  5. (obsolete, 1608–1721) Lowered in rank or condition; abased, humbled.[2][7]

Word family

  • dejectedly
  • dejectedness
  • undejected

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ Webster, Noah (1828), An American Dictionary of the English Language, New York: S. Converse
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Dejected.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/dejected. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·