despit

Forms

despit m^[1][2]

• despeit, despiit, depit^[3]

Chrétien de Troyes writes despit and despiz.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dēspectus (“a looking down on; contempt”),^{[4][3][5][6][7]} the action noun of dēspiciō (“to look down on, despise”), which is formed from dē- and speciō (“to look”).^[8] The adjective, "contemptible, wretched", goes with the verb despire "to despise", from the same Latin verb.^[9]

Its Romance cognates include Italian dispetto, Old Occitan despiech, Catalan despit, Spanish despecho and Portuguese despeito.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record in the DEAF is Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis, an Anglo-Norman chronicle of about 1139 in a manuscript of the early 13th century.^[3][11] The TLFi starts with avoir en despit "to despise" in the Voyage de Charlemagne, of about 1140; the first sense is contempt.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word kept the Latin idea of contempt and stood at the centre of a group of words for scorn, arrogance, insult, shame and humiliation.^[8] Chrétien de Troyes uses it in por despit "out of contempt", avoir en despit and tenir a despit "to despise", and in the proverb Que tel chose a l'an an despit Qui mout valt mialz que l'an ne cuide "that one scorns a thing worth much more than one thinks".^[2] The prepositional use survives in en dépit de, first as el despit le rei "in defiance of the king" about 1174.^[7][8]

The sense "anger, vexation" is recorded in Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–1174) according to the TLFi and the DHLF,^[7][8] whereas Bloch and Wartburg see the word meaning "contempt" until the 16th century and the modern sense not before the 17th.^[6] The adjective meant "irritated", "wretched, contemptible" and "outrageous, odious": Garce sui vix et sui despite "I am a vile and despised wench".^[12] The modern French word is dépit.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1139 – in Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis.^[3][11]
• c. 1140 – avoir en despit "to despise" in the Voyage de Charlemagne.^[7][8]
• 1160–1174 – "anger" in Wace's Roman de Rou.^[7]
• c. 1170 – in Chrétien de Troyes's Erec et Enide.^[2][13]
• c. 1174 – el despit le rei "in defiance of the king".^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. contempt, disdain, scorn.^[2][14][12]
2. an act or word of contempt; an insult.^[14][12]
3. humiliation, shame.^[12][15]
4. anger, vexation.^[12][7]
5. harm, damage.^[14]
6. en despit de: in defiance of; despite.^[14][7]

Adjective

1. contemptible, wretched; despised.^[12][16]
2. shameful, odious.^[16][12]
3. irritated, angry.^[12]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads a noun and an adjective despit and first cites both from the first half of the 12th century; the noun also meant damage or detriment, and its phrases include "despite, notwithstanding" and "out of spite".^[14][16] Middle English despit comes from the Old French word, and the English word despite is recorded from about 1300.^[17][18]

Word family

• despiter

Descendants

• Middle French despit (→ French dépit)^[19][7]
• Middle English despit (borrowed; → English despite)^[17][18]

Related words

• despire

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch, the DÉCT and the AND head the word despit, the DMF dépit.^{[1][2][14][19]} Greimas treats both the noun and the adjective under the verb despiter.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 2:1698
2. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. despit
3. ^ a b c d Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. despit
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3:54
5. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 333
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 227
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. dépit
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3:55
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2598
11. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. GaimarB
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1979), Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle, 2nd ed., Paris: Larousse (printing of 1988), p. s.v. despit
13. ^ Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. ErecF
14. ^ a b c d e f Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. despit 1
15. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
16. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. despit 2
17. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
18. ^ a b 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)
19. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. dépit