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dépit

Etymology and origin of the French word dépit

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1140, Voyage de Charlemagne
Inherited from
Latin despectus via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (speciō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin despectus
French dépit

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /de.pi/[1]

Forms

dépit m (plural dépits)[1] Old French despit, dépit in the Académie from 1740.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French despit, inherited from Latin dēspectus (“a looking down; contempt”),[2][4][5][6] the action noun of Latin dēspiciō (“to look down on, despise”), formed from dē- and speciō (“to look”) (see spectacle, aspect, respect and répit).[4][7][3]

Cognate with Italian dispetto, Old Occitan despieit, Catalan despit, Spanish despecho and Portuguese despeito.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Voyage de Charlemagne (about 1140) has avoir en despit “to despise”;[2][4] in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence (about 1174) el despit le rei means “in contempt of the king”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the noun expressed contempt, as in Latin, and stood at the centre of a group of words for scorn, insolence and humiliation.[4] The sense “contempt” lasted until the 16th century and survives only in en dépit de “in spite of”, comparable to au mépris de (Calvin's en despit qu'ils en ayent).[5][4][9] The modern sense, vexation mixed with anger, appears in Wace (1160–1174), from the feelings of the person despised;[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg place it in the 17th century.[5] Classical French used it for violent resentment at an affront (Racine), and Molière's Le Dépit amoureux (1658) gave dépit amoureux.[3][2] En dépit du bon sens means “all wrong”.[8][2] The verb dépiter dates from 1200.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1140 – Avoir en despit “to despise”.[2]
  • 1160–1174 – “Anger”, in Wace.[2]
  • c. 1174 – El despit le rei.[2]
  • 1200 – Dépiter.[4]
  • 1212 – Dépiteux.[4]
  • 1658 – Molière's Le Dépit amoureux.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Vexation, resentment; chagrin mixed with anger: pleurer de dépit, par dépit: out of pique.[8][10]
  2. Dépit amoureux: lovers' pique.[8][10]
  3. En dépit de: in spite of, despite, en dépit du bon sens: all wrong.[8][10]
  4. (obsolete) Contempt, scorn.[1][3]

Word family

  • dépiter
  • dépité

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 54a
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Dépit.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9pit. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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