desperation
/ˌdespəˈeɪʃən/deh-spur-AY-shuhn
/ˌdɛspɚˈeɪʃən/deh-spur-AY-shuhn
Meaningthe state of being without hope
Common meaning: hopelessness leading to rash action
- dedown, away, off; undoing
- sperto hope; hopeLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1740 · scan
- atverb or adjective ending: to make, having
- ionnoun ending: act or result
‘down, away, off’ + ‘to hope’ → desperation
Journey through time
- Latinspērō; spēs‘to hope’
- Frenchdespiz
- Englishdesperate‘without hope’
- Englishformed in English from desperatedesperation‘hopelessness leading to rash action’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from desperate + -ion.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DESPAIR, p.162 · scan
Roots
- spērō; spēs Latin “to hope; hope”
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