despite

B1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

US /dɪˈspaɪt/ UK /dɪˈspaɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #2557

Meanings

1

prep
Without being affected or stopped by something; in spite of.

Despite the rain, they went for a long walk.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 prep · without being affected or... in spite ofnotwithstandingregardless of

Word family

Derived forms despiteful

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English despit, dispit, from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”). The preposition is derived from Middle English dispit, itself derived from the phrase in dispit of (in despite of). Compare typologically Russian несмотря́ на (nesmotrjá na) (< смотре́ть (smotrétʹ)); невзира́я на (nevzirája na) (< взира́ть (vzirátʹ)), презре́в (prezrév) (< презре́ть (prezrétʹ) <~ зреть (zretʹ)) (compare despite—despise relation).

*speḱ- Proto-Indo-European despit Middle English dēspectum Latin dispit Middle English

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Topics

Grammar & Function Words

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# despite

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** prep
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈspaɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈspaɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 2557

## Meanings
1. Without being affected or stopped by something; in spite of.

## Examples
- Despite the rain, they went for a long walk.

## Derived Forms
- despiteful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *speḱ-
- Root: despit
- Root: dēspectum
- Root: dispit

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English despit, dispit, from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”). The preposition is derived from Middle English dispit, itself derived from the phrase in dispit of (in despite of). Compare typologically Russian несмотря́ на (nesmotrjá na) (< смотре́ть (smotrétʹ)); невзира́я на (nevzirája na) (< взира́ть (vzirátʹ)), презре́в (prezrév) (< презре́ть (prezrétʹ) <~ зреть (zretʹ)) (compare despite—despise relation).

## AI Etymology
For despite, the noun is derived from Middle English despit, dispit, from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”). The preposition is derived from Middle English dispit, itself derived from the phrase in dispit of (in despite of). Compare typologically Russian несмотря́ на (nesmotrjá na) (< смотре́ть (smotrétʹ)); невзира́я на (nevzirája na) (< взира́ть (vzirátʹ)), презре́в (prezrév) (< презре́ть (prezrétʹ) <~ зреть (zretʹ)) (compare despite—despise relation). The current sense is Without being affected or stopped by something; in spite of. English relatives and later formations include despiteful.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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