Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
DESPONDED
Verb
desponded
simple past tense and past participle of despond
Source: Wiktionary
DESPOND
De*spond", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Desponded; p. pr. & vb. n. Desponding.] Etym: [L. despond, desponsum, to promise away, promise in marriage, give up, to lose (courage); de- + spond to promise solemnly. See Sponsor.]
Definition: To give up, the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view. I should despair, or at least despond. Scott's Letters. Others depress their own minds, [and] despond at the first difficulty. Locke. We wish that . . . desponding patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that foundations of our national power still stand strong. D. Webster.
Syn.
– Despond, Dispair. Despair implies a total loss of hope, which despond does not, at least in every case; yet despondency is often more lasting than despair, or than desperation, which impels to violent action.
De*spond" n.
Definition: Despondency. [Obs.] The slough of despond. Bunyan.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
23 November 2024
THEORETICAL
(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”
Coffee Trivia
