Etymologically
Log in

despero

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 06:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [deːsˈpeː.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [desˈpɛː.ro][1]

Forms

dēspērō (present infinitive dēspērāre, perfect active dēspērāvī, supine dēspērātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from dē- (“without”) and spērō “to hope”.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Cicero, of despairing.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Transitively it meant to give up as hopeless, despair of, as Cicero's giving up hope of office, of doctors to despair of curing a disease, as in Seneca, and to give up hope of doing something, as in Ovid.[2][5] Intransitively it meant to lose hope, despair, of or for something, as in Cicero.[2] Lewis and Short call it frequent and Classical.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to despair.[7] It survives in Italian disperare, and Spanish desperar is a borrowing.[1] Through Old French desperer it is the source of English despair in the mid-14th century, English desperate comes from its participle dēspērātus about 1400, and English desperado is a mock-Spanish form of about 1600.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of despairing.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it with an infinitive.[2][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of incurable diseases.[2][4]
  • mid-14th century – English despair is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give up as hopeless, despair of.[2]
  2. To give up hope of curing.[2]
  3. (intransitive) To lose hope, despair.[2]

Word family

  • dēspērābilis
  • dēspērātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson