Etymologically
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despite

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈspaɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English despit,[2][3] borrowed from Old French despit (modern French dépit),[4][3] from Latin dēspectus (“a looking down on, scorn, contempt”),[4][2] from the past participle of dēspicere (“to look down on, scorn”),[4][3] from dē- (“down”) and specere (“to look at”),[4] from Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”).[4] The preposition is short for in despite of, a loan translation of Old French en despit de.[3][4][2] It is related to despise.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, “contemptuous challenge, defiance; an act meant to insult”: about 1300,[4] 1297 in the OED,[6] or probably before 1300.[3]

Semantic evolution

“Scorn, contempt” is from the mid-14th century,[4] and “indignation, anger, malice” from about 1325.[6] In despite of, “in defiance of”, is from about 1300,[4][3] and the preposition alone, “notwithstanding”, from before 1420, in Lydgate's Troy Book,[3] or the early 15th century.[4] The word nearly became despight in the spelling reforms of the 16th century.[4] The noun and the verb, “to show contempt for”, are now archaic.[7][6]

Timeline

  • 1297 – contemptuous treatment.[6]
  • c. 1300 – in despite of.[4][3]
  • mid-14th century – scorn, contempt.[4]
  • 1375 – verb, to treat with contempt.[6]
  • before 1420 – preposition, notwithstanding.[3]

Modern meaning

Preposition

  1. In spite of; notwithstanding.

Noun

  1. (archaic) Contemptuous defiance.
  2. (archaic) Spite; malice.

Word family

  • despiteful
  • despise
  • spite
  • despicable
  • spectacle
  • spy

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press