desperatio Latin · revision 31472

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *speh₁-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēspērātiō''' ''f'' (genitive dēspērātiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Manuscripts often spell it ''disperātiō''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|dēspērō|-tiō]], a noun of action from the verb “to give up hope”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) The verb is formed from [[m|la|dē-]] and [[m|la|spērō|t=to hope]], which de Vaan derives from [[spēs|t=hope]]; that noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*spēs]] and [[ine-pro|*spéh₁-s|t=prosperity]], cognate with [[sa|स्फायते|tr=sphāyate|t=to grow fat, increase]] and [[lt|spėti|t=to be in time]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first author is Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who defines it in the ''Tusculan Disputations'' as distress without any expectation of better things.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the giving up of hope, despair, often with a genitive of what is despaired of, as Cicero's despair of the state and of recovering what was lost.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The TLL notes that it is common in prose from Cicero on but almost absent from poetry.^(TLL) Livy uses it of a desperate state of health, when a doctor sent word at the first signs that the patient was beyond hope,^(OLD 2012) and Apuleius of desperate, reckless conduct.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Isidore of Seville sets it against hope.^(TLL) In British Medieval Latin it is despair, including despair of salvation in theology.^(DMLBS) English ''desperation'' comes from it, first in the late 14th century of hopelessness, especially of God's mercy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero defines it as distress without hope.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a patient's hopeless condition.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of desperate conduct.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|desperation]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The abandonment of hope, [[m|en|despair]], hopelessness.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # With a genitive, despair of something.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A desperate state of health.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # Desperate or reckless action, [[m|en|foolhardiness]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spēs]]

+ * [[spērō]]

+ * [[en|despair]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}