Despit

Part of speech: preposition, noun

Definitions

1. An obsolete noun meaning malicious ill will or contemptuous defiance toward another person
2. An archaic term for spite, a wish to hurt or humiliate someone out of contempt or hostility
3. Old-fashioned word for deliberate malice or scorn shown toward someone in open defiance

Etymology: Before it meant "in spite of", this word was a noun for malice, defiance or contempt, and its shortened form "spite" still carries that older sense. The Middle English spelling "despit" came from Old French "despit", meaning vexation or scorn, which derived from Latin "despectus", "looked down upon", the past participle of "despicere". That verb combined "de-" (down) with "specere" (to look). To look down on someone was to scorn them, and that scorn is what the noun carried. The preposition developed from phrases such as "in despit of", meaning "in defiance of", where the noun expressed a challenge to someone's will. Over the 14th and 15th centuries the phrase compressed into a single word, while the noun kept its meaning until it was largely replaced by "spite". The final "e" in the modern spelling was added later.