Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: desperer, from Latin desperare, from sperare 'to hope'

despair

2 verb
     
despair2 [intransitive] formal
to feel that there is no hope at all:
Despite his illness, Ron never despaired.
despair of (doing) something
He despaired of ever finding her.
despair of somebody
My teachers began to despair of me.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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