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disperato

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word disperato

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
13th century, Patecchio
Borrowed from
Latin despero
Ultimate origin
Latin spērō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin despero
Italian disperato
From the same root
Latin desperatio ← despero

Pronunciation

  • /dis.peˈra.to/[1]

Forms

disperato (feminine disperata, masculine plural disperati, feminine plural disperate, superlative disperatissimo)[1] The old form desperato survives in literary use.[2][3] Old forms include Old Italian desperado, Old Italian desperad and Old Italian disperatu.[4]

Etymology

It is the past participle of disperare (“to despair”), used as an adjective and noun.[5][6][7] The verb is a learned word, borrowed from Latin dēspērāre (“to give up hope”), from dē- and spērō (“to hope”), and Latin had the participle dēspērātus (“despaired of”).[8][5] The LEI files the learned Romance forms under the Latin verb.[9] Devoto analysed the participle as if it were built on speranza with the privative prefix dis-.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Splanamento of the Cremonese poet Patecchio, of the 13th century.[4] DELI dates the sense “having lost all hope” to Malispini in the 13th century, with the construction disperato d'ogni soccorso, “despairing of all help”.[8][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant without hope, also of a sick man who could not recover and in religious language of one without trust in God's mercy, then in great suffering, especially in love poetry, and morally wicked.[4] As a noun it could even name the executioner.[4] The senses “in the grip of despair” and “caused by despair” are dated to Bono Giamboni before 1292 and Dante before 1321.[8] Dante writes of d'ogni dottrina disperati, people with no hope of any learning.[3]

Tommaseo records two old nouns: disperato “despair”, and a kind of popular poem, perhaps a lover's lament, listed by Varchi.[11] The phrase alla disperata “with fury, any old how” was already in use before 1375.[4][6] In familiar modern Italian a disperato is also a penniless person or a desperado.[12][13]

Timeline

  • 13th century – Patecchio's Splanamento has the first record.[4]
  • 13th century – Malispini uses the word for “having lost all hope”.[8]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for “in the grip of despair”.[8]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “caused by despair”.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. desperate, hopeless, offering no hope of a good outcome: Le condizioni del ferito sono disperate.[12][6][7]
  2. Done out of despair, with very little chance of success: un ultimo, disperato tentativo.[12][6]
  3. Expressing despair: un grido disperato.[12][7]
  4. Intense, frantic: una fuga disperata.[12]
  5. In despair, without hope: Era disperato per la perdita del lavoro. In weaker use, very worried: Sono disperata, ho perso il telefono![12][6][14]

Noun

  1. A person who has lost all hope or is in despair, studiare come un disperato, to work frantically.[12][2]
  2. (colloquial) A penniless person with no job or position; a desperado with nothing to lose.[12][13]

Word family

  • disperatamente

Usage notes

Alla disperata means hastily, furiously, or any old how: fare le valigie alla disperata.[6][13][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 724
  4. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 19, 1496
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 147
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Disperato.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/disperato. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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