Etymologically
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despair

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/[1]
  • US: /dɪˈspɛɚ/[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English despeir,[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman despeir,[2][3][4] a variant of Old French despoir, itself formed from desperer (“to lose hope”).[3][5][6] Barnhart suggests the French noun took this shape on the model of espeir (“hope”).[7] The verb, despeiren, comes from the stressed stem of that French verb,[5][3][8] which continues Latin dēspērō (“to lose all hope”),[3][9] from dē- (“without”) and spērō (“to hope”), from spēs (“hope”).[3][6][9] Klein compares Lithuanian spėti (“to have time”), and Etymonline traces spēs to Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper”), the root of speed.[9][3] Modern French replaced the verb with désespérer.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Loss of all hope, hopelessness: c. 1325 for the noun, in the Metrical Homilies;[5] the verb, to give up hope, a1340, in Richard Rolle's Psalter.[5] Barnhart dates the noun to about 1300 and the verb to about 1340.[7]

Semantic evolution

In Anglo-Norman both words were already in use, the verb from about 1200 and the noun from about 1275.[10] Middle English could use the verb reflexively ("despair oneself", c. 1386 to 1502, as in Chaucer), and transitively, "to drive into despair" (1393 to 1618) or "to give up hope of" (c. 1485 to 1773), uses now gone.[5] Wyclif used both noun and verb for false or mistaken hope.[5] From Shakespeare's Macbeth the noun can also be the thing that causes despair or that one despairs of.[5] Despair replaced the native word wanhope.[3][11]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – the noun, as dyspayr.[7]
  • c. 1325 – noun, total loss of hope.[5]
  • a1340 – verb, to give up hope.[5][7]
  • c. 1386 – reflexive use, in Chaucer (obsolete after 1502).[5]
  • c. 1485 – transitive, to give up hope of (until 1773).[5]
  • a1616 – that which causes despair, in Shakespeare.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Complete loss or absence of hope: They watched the flood waters rise in despair.
  2. A person or thing that causes such feelings, or for which there is no hope.

Verb

  1. To lose or give up hope, often followed by of: Her doctors had despaired of her recovery.
  2. (obsolete) To give up hope of something.

Word family

  • despairer
  • self-despair

Usage notes

Counsel of despair, advice given when all hope is gone, is a set phrase.[5][6] Chaucer used the noun twelve times, spelled despeir, dispeir, dispayr and so on.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme