Etymologically
Log in

dépit

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 21:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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)