Etymologically
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dismay

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Pronunciation

  • /dɪsˈmeɪ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dismaien, also desmaien and demaien,[2][3] apparently borrowed from Anglo-Norman *desmaier, also *demaier,[4][3][5] a type known only from the past participle dismayé in Palsgrave.[4][6][7] The Middle English Dictionary and Etymonline see it as amaien or esmaien with an intensive dis-, formed either in Anglo-Norman or in English.[2][8] The ordinary Old French verb was esmaier (“to trouble, disturb, frighten”),[4][8][3] recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1113–19,[9] the source of émoi (“agitation, anxiety”).[7][10] It goes back to Vulgar Latin *exmagō (“to deprive of power”),[8][7][5][3] a hybrid of ex- (“out of, from”) and a Germanic stem; the OED, Hoad and Ayto set up a form Vulgar Latin *dismagō, with a different prefix, for the English verb itself.[4][11][12] The stem is Proto-Germanic *mag- (“power, ability”),[12][11] as in Old High German magan (“to be powerful or able”) and English may,[4][8][10] from Proto-Indo-European *magʰ- (“to be able, have power”).[8][5] Also from the Vulgar Latin verb is Italian smagare (“to weaken, dismay, discourage”),[8][7] while Spanish desmayar (“to dishearten”) and Portuguese desmaiar match the English type;[4][13] Klein and Etymonline take the Spanish verb as a loan from Old French.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To rob of courage at the prospect of danger or trouble; to appal: 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle.[4] The Middle English Dictionary's first quotation, from about 1300, is reflexive: he demaiede him sore, he was sorely afraid.[2] Barnhart finds dismaien probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder, and demayen about 1300.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb could also be intransitive, "to lose heart", a use recorded from about 1390 to 1616,[4][2] and Spenser once used it for routing an enemy by a sudden attack (1596).[4][14] The noun is formed from the verb, or perhaps on the model of Old French esmai;[8][14] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to about 1300,[3][8] but the OED's first record is from 1590, in Spenser's Faerie Queene.[4] Johnson (1755) derived the noun from Spanish desmayo and defined it as "fall of courage; terrour felt", quoting Milton.[15] Besides alarm, both the verb and the noun came to cover a sudden loss of enthusiasm and keenly felt disappointment.[13][14][16] In Cheshire dialect the verb meant "to go wrong".[17]

Timeline

  • 1297 – to deprive of courage; to appal.[4]
  • c. 1300 – reflexive, to be alarmed or upset.[2][8]
  • probably before 1300 – noun, consternation, fear, in Arthour and Merlin.[3] The OED's first record of the noun is from 1590.[4]
  • c. 1390 – intransitive, to lose heart (obsolete by 1616).[4]
  • 1595 – noun, a dismaying influence, in Spenser (obsolete).[4]
  • 1596 – to rout by a sudden attack, in Spenser (obsolete).[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fill with alarm or consternation; to take away the courage of: The size of the crowd dismayed the young speaker.[16][13][4]
  2. To discourage or deeply disappoint; to check the enthusiasm of.[16][13]
  3. (obsolete, 1390–1616) To lose heart; to be afraid.[4][2]
  4. (obsolete) To rout by a sudden attack.[4][14]

Noun

  1. A sudden loss of courage through fear; consternation: They watched the rising water with dismay.[16][13][4]
  2. Keen disappointment or disillusionment.[13][14]

Word family

  • dismayingly
  • undismayable
  • may

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  13. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  14. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  16. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)