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.
雙語例句
1. Don't let yourself despair; this will only make matters worse.
不要想不開，這樣只能使情況變得更糟。
來自柯林斯例句
2. I would overcome any weakness, any despair, any fear.
我要克服所有的軟弱、絕望和恐懼。
來自柯林斯例句
3. As his energy drained away, his despair and worry grew.
當他的精力耗盡時，他的絕望和擔心也增加了。
來自柯林斯例句
4. I was in the depths of despair when the baby was sick.
孩子生病時我陷入了絕望的深淵之中。
來自柯林斯例句
5. The night before the test I was overcome by fear and despair.