[de.spair] vb [ME despeiren, fr. MF desperer, fr. L desperare, fr. de- + sperare to hope; akin to L spes hope--more at speed] vi (14c): to lose all hope or confidence "~ of winning" ~ vt, obs: to lose hope for -- de.spair.er n
[2]despair n (14c) 1: utter loss of hope
2: a cause of hopelessness "an incorrigible child is the ~ of his parents"