disperare

Forms

disperare f (plural disperări)^[1]

Etymology

It is the long infinitive of the verb dispera “to despair”, formed from Romanian dispera + -re.^[2][3][1] The verb, also spelt despera, is from Latin dēspērō (“to despair”), with Italian disperare as a second model according to the DLR.^[4][2] Wiktionary calls the verb a learned borrowing from Latin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates desperare “despair” to 1818, in a text published in the historical series of the Academy's Analele.^[5] MDA2 has the first record in Iordache Golescu's Condica of about 1832.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word meant from the start the state of having lost all hope, and it has kept that sense.^[5][3] The 19th century wrote both desperare and disperare: Pann has „Ș-în mai mare desperare sufletul nu-mi apăsa” “and do not crush my soul in greater despair”, Filimon writes disperare, Eminescu and Maiorescu desperare.^[3] Tiktin notes that it pushed out the older desperație.^[5] Present-day dictionaries prefer disperare.^[2]

Timeline

• 1818 – desperare “despair”, the first record.^[5]
• c. 1832 – desperare in Golescu's Condica.^[6]
• 1998 – DEX still gives despera as the main form of the verb;^[2] DEX 2009 has dispera.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. despair: the state of having lost all hope.^[2][6]
2. cu disperare: desperately;^[2] (figurative) with all one's strength: Lucra cu disperare la proiect.^[2]
3. a duce (or a împinge) pe cineva la disperare: to drive someone to despair, exasperate them.^[2]

Related words

• speranță
• deznădejde

Usage notes

DEX 2009 and the DLR give disperare as the main form and desperare as its variant;^[2][3][6][5] MDA2 and Tiktin list the word under desperare.^[2][3][6][5] The plural is disperări.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 321
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. disperare
4. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dispera
5. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. desperáre
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 671