despise

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English despisen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French despis-, the stem of despire (“to despise”),^{[5][3][4][6][7]} from Latin dēspiciō (“to look down on, scorn”),^[3][8][5] from dē- (“down”) and speciō (“to look at”),^[3][6][9] from Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).^[3][8] The MED also names despisier,^[2] and the OED notes a later despicer, formed after the Latin verb.^[5] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the early 12th century in the senses "to despise", "to scorn" and "to humiliate".^[10] The s was at first pronounced as a voiceless spirant in French and English, which explains Middle English spellings such as despice.^[5][11] Despicable and despite come from the same Latin verb.^[12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To look down on, view with contempt: 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle,^[5] probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder according to Barnhart.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense.^[5][3] In Middle English it could also mean to look down on in the literal sense (before 1325 to about 1400),^[5] and to show contempt for someone in words or actions, from Langland's Piers Plowman (1377) to the mid-16th century.^[5] Of things it meant to set at nought or disregard, from Trevisa to 1666;^[5] with an infinitive it meant to scorn to do something (1483–1621).^[5] Chaucer used it 47 times, also for "to refuse" and "to disparage".^[14] The OED notes that the sense "to look upon, contemplate" given in some dictionaries is an error.^[5] A noun despise, contempt, was used from about 1440 to 1586.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 1297 – to look down on, regard with contempt.^[5]
• before 1325 – to look down (literally) (obsolete by 1400).^[5]
• 1377 – to treat with contempt (obsolete by 1557).^[5]
• c. 1440 – noun, contempt (obsolete by 1586).^[5]
• 1483 – to scorn to do something (obsolete by 1621).^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To regard with contempt or strong dislike; to look down on as inferior or worthless: She despised people who were cruel to animals.^[15][16][6]
2. (obsolete, 1377–1557) To treat with contempt in word or deed.^[5][2]

Word family

• despisal
• despiser
• despisement
• despisable
• despisableness
• despisingly
• undespising
• despicable

Related words

• despite
• spite
• spy
• species
• spectacle

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes the Century Dictionary's distinction: to despise is to look down on with strong contempt from a position of superiority, to scorn is to feel an extreme, passionate contempt, and to disdain is to feel a proud, haughty contempt.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
15. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster