Despise
/dɪˈspaɪz/noun
To feel contempt or disdain for someone or something.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Latin *despicere*, “to look down on,” so contempt was once imagined as a physical act of lowering your gaze over someone.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*spek-
“to look, observe”
Latin
Latin
specere
“to look at, behold”
Latin
Latin
despicere
“to look down on; scorn”
Old French
OF
despisier
“to scorn, disdain”
Middle English
ME
despisen
“to scorn, disdain”
Modern English
EN
despise
“to feel contempt or disdain for”
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