spite English · revision 10388

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=before 1300|origins=fro despit}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spaɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, a shortening of despit, malice (see [[despite]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Old French despit, contempt (compare [[despise]]).^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(Cresswell 2021) It corresponds to Middle Dutch spijt and Middle Low German spyt.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Contempt, disdain, an act of insult: before 1300, in ''Arthour and Merlin'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A hostile or malevolent action is the first sense in the OED, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) A strong feeling of ill will or grudge is from about 1330.^(OED 1989) The phrase ''in spite of'' is from about 1400, in defiance or contempt of, hence notwithstanding.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) In the 17th century the word was commonly spelled spight.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The verb, to regard with spite or despise, is from about 1400 (before 1400 in Barnhart),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) to fill with vexation from the 1560s, and to treat maliciously from the 1590s, as in ''cut off one's nose to spite one's face''.^(Etymonline) A ''spite fence'', put up to annoy a neighbour, is from 1899.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – contempt; an insult.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1330 – ill will.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – in spite of.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1400 – to regard with spite (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – to treat maliciously.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1899 – spite fence.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Malicious ill will prompting a wish to hurt or humiliate.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An instance of such malice; a [[grudge]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To annoy or hurt deliberately out of spite.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # ''(in spite of)'' Regardless of; [[notwithstanding]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spiteless]]

+ * [[spiteful]]

+ * [[unspited]]

+ * [[spite fence]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[despite]]

+ * [[despise]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}