discourage

Pronunciation

• UK: /dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒ/^[1]
• US: /dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English discoragen, also discouragen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French descourager, also descorager,^[3][5][6][7] and Anglo-Norman descuragier,^[6][8] from Old French descoragier (“to dishearten”) (modern French décourager),^{[4][6][9][10]} formed from des- (“away”) and corage (“heart, spirit”), the source of courage.^{[4][11][5][3][12]} The Old French verb is recorded from the late 12th century,^[6] and the Anglo-Norman one from 1174–75.^[8] The French noun goes back to Vulgar Latin *coraticum, from Latin cor (“heart”).^[4] The OED compares Italian discoraggiare, first recorded before 1250.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To deprive of courage or confidence: 1436 in the OED,^[6] and 1437 in Barnhart and the Middle English Dictionary.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Already in 1437 the verb also meant to deter or dissuade someone from doing something.^[6][2] In 1528 Skelton used it for trying to prevent an action or practice by disapproval or by making it difficult;^[6] Etymonline dates the sense "express disapproval of, hinder" to the 1640s.^[4] An intransitive use, to lose heart, appears in 1524 and survives in North American English.^[6] A noun discourage, lack of courage, was used from 1434 to 1642.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined the verb as "to depress; to deprive of confidence; to deject; to dastardize".^[13] The noun discouragement, borrowed from French, is recorded from 1561.^[3]

Timeline

• 1434 – noun discourage, lack of courage (obsolete by 1642).^[6]
• 1436 – to deprive of courage or confidence.^[6]
• 1437 – to deter or dissuade someone from an action.^[6][2]
• 1524 – intransitive, to lose courage.^[6]
• 1528 – to try to prevent an action by disapproval or difficulties.^[6]
• 1561 – discouragement.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make someone lose confidence or the will to go on; to dishearten: Repeated rejections discouraged the young writer.^[5][14][6]
2. To try to stop someone from doing something; to dissuade or deter: The signs discourage visitors from feeding the ducks.^[6][14]
3. To hinder or prevent something, or to show disapproval of it: This coating discourages mould.^[14][6]
4. (North America) To lose heart.^[6]

Word family

• discourageable
• discourager
• discouragingly
• discouragement
• overdiscourage

Related words

• courage
• encourage

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins