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English word despair comes from Old French des- (De-; dis-.), Old French esperer (To hope.)
des- (Old French)
De-; dis-.
esperer (Old French)
To hope.
desesperer (Old French)
despeir (Anglo-Norman)
despair (English)
Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.. That which causes despair.. That which is despaired of. (Can we add an example for this sense?) (intransitive, often with “of”) To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation.. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to despair.. (transitive, obsolete) To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.