despair的词源

英文词源

despair

despair: [14] Etymologically, despair is literally ‘lack of hope’. The word comes via Old French desperer from Latin dēspērāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix dē-, denoting reversal, and spērāre, a derivative of the noun spēs ‘hope’. Its past participle, dēspērātus, produced English desperate [15], from which desperado is a 17th-century mock-Spanish coinage.
=> desperate

despair (n.)

c. 1300, from Anglo-French despeir, Old French despoir, from desperer (see despair (v.)). Replaced native wanhope.

despair (v.)

early 14c., from stem of Old French desperer "be dismayed, lose hope, despair," from Latin desperare "to despair, to lose all hope," from de- "without" (see de-) + sperare "to hope," from spes "hope" (see sperate). Related: Despaired; despairing; despairingly.

中文词源

despair：绝望

de-, 不，非，使相反。-spair, 希望，词源同speed, prosper. 即没有希望的，绝望。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：despair 词源，despair 含义。

despair：绝望

词根词缀： de-下降,向下 + spair(= -sper- )希望

despair：绝望

de-是否定前缀，de的意思，不论“向下”或“远离”，都含消极否定意味：下不如上，离不如合。词根spair表“希望”，desperate的词根变形为sper，如prosper（繁荣），繁荣即充满生机和希望。词根sper（希望）和词根spir（呼吸）可联想串记，呼吸是生命的延续，希望的载体。