despair English · revision 39398

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1325, Metrical Homilies|origins=la spēs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /dɪˈspɛɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun is [[inh|enm|despeir]],^(MED) [[bor|xno|despeir]],^(MED)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) a variant of [[fro|despoir]], itself formed from [[m|fro|desperer|t=to lose hope]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) Barnhart suggests the French noun took this shape on the model of [[m|fro|espeir|t=hope]].^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, [[m|enm|despeiren]], comes from the stressed stem of that French verb,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which continues [[la|dēspērō|t=to lose all hope]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[m|la|dē-|t=without]] and [[m|la|spērō|t=to hope]], from [[m|la|spēs|t=hope]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) Klein compares [[lt|spėti|t=to have time]], and Etymonline traces ''spēs'' to [[ine-pro|*speh₁-|t=to prosper]], the root of [[speed]].^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) Modern French replaced the verb with [[m|fr|désespérer]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Loss of all hope, hopelessness: c. 1325 for the noun, in the ''Metrical Homilies'';^(OED 2026) the verb, to give up hope, a1340, in Richard Rolle's ''Psalter''.^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates the noun to about 1300 and the verb to about 1340.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Anglo-Norman both words were already in use, the verb from about 1200 and the noun from about 1275.^(AND) Middle English could use the verb reflexively ("despair oneself", c. 1386 to 1502, as in Chaucer), and transitively, "to drive into despair" (1393 to 1618) or "to give up hope of" (c. 1485 to 1773), uses now gone.^(OED 2026) Wyclif used both noun and verb for false or mistaken hope.^(OED 2026) From Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'' the noun can also be the thing that causes despair or that one despairs of.^(OED 2026) ''Despair'' replaced the native word [[wanhope]].^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – the noun, as ''dyspayr''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1325 – noun, total loss of hope.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1340 – verb, to give up hope.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1386 – reflexive use, in Chaucer (obsolete after 1502).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1485 – transitive, to give up hope of (until 1773).^(OED 2026)

+ * a1616 – that which causes despair, in Shakespeare.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Complete loss or absence of [[hope]]: ''They watched the flood waters rise in despair.''^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A person or thing that causes such feelings, or for which there is no hope.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To lose or give up hope, often followed by ''of'': ''Her doctors had despaired of her recovery.''^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (obsolete) To give up hope of something.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[despairer]]

+ * [[self-despair]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[desperate]]

+ * [[desperation]]

+ * [[desperado]]

+ * [[hope]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Counsel of despair'', advice given when all hope is gone, is a set phrase.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) Chaucer used the noun twelve times, spelled ''despeir'', ''dispeir'', ''dispayr'' and so on.^(GCME)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}