despondence

despondence
despondence 1670s, from L. despondere "to give up, lose, lose heart, resign, to promise in marriage" (especially in phrase animam despondere, lit. "give up one's soul"), from the sense of a promise to give something away, from de- "away" (see DE- (Cf. de-)) + spondere "to promise" (see SPONDEE (Cf. spondee)). A condition more severe than DESPAIR (Cf. despair).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Despondence — De*spond ence, n. Despondency. [1913 Webster] The people, when once infected, lose their relish for happiness [and] saunter about with looks of despondence. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • despondence — index depression, pessimism Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • despondence — noun Date: 1657 despondency …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • despondence — de·spon·dence (dĭ spŏnʹdəns) n. Despondency. * * * …   Universalium

  • despondence — noun The state of being downcast or despondent. Syn: despondency …   Wiktionary

  • despondence — (Roget s Thesaurus II) noun 1. Utter lack of hope: despair, desperateness, desperation, despond, despondency, hopelessness. See HOPE. 2. A feeling or spell of dismally low spirits: blues, dejection, depression, despondency, doldrums, dolefulness …   English dictionary for students

  • despondence — n. depression, melancholy, dejection, hopelessness …   English contemporary dictionary

  • despondence — de·spon·dence …   English syllables

  • despondence — noun feeling downcast and disheartened and hopeless • Syn: ↑despondency, ↑heartsickness, ↑disconsolateness • Derivationally related forms: ↑disconsolate (for: ↑disconsolateness), ↑heartsi …   Useful english dictionary

  • despondency — noun feeling downcast and disheartened and hopeless (Freq. 1) • Syn: ↑despondence, ↑heartsickness, ↑disconsolateness • Derivationally related forms: ↑disconsolate (for: ↑disconsolaten …   Useful english dictionary

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