Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DES-PIT'E-OUS-LY, adv.

Furiously. [Obs.] – Spenser.

DE-SPIT'ING, ppr.

Offending; teasing.

DE-SPOIL', v.t. [L. despolio; de and spolio, to spoil; Fr. depouiller; It. spogliare; Sp. despojar; Port. id. See Spoil.]

1. To strip; to take from by force; to rob; to deprive; followed by of; as, to despoil one of arms; to despoil of honors; to despoil of innocence.
2. To strip or divest by any means. – Woodward.

DE-SPOIL'ED, pp.

Stripped; robbed; bereaved; deprived.

DE-SPOIL'ER, n.

One who strips by force; a plunderer.

DE-SPOIL'ING, ppr.

Depriving; stripping; robbing.

DE-SPOIL'MENT, n.

Act of despoiling; a plundering.

DES-PO-LI-A'TION, n.

The act of despoiling; a stripping.

DE-SPOND', n.

Despondency; as in the phrase, The Slough of Despond.

DE-SPOND', v.i. [L. despondeo; de and spondeo, to promise; literally, to throw to or forward.]

1. To be cast down; to be depressed or dejected in mind; to fail in spirits. I should despair, or at least despond. – Scott's Letters.
2. To lose all courage, spirit or resolution; to sink by loss of hope. Others depress their own minds, and despond at the first difficulty. – Locke. Note. The distinction between despair and despond is well marked in the foregoing passage from Scott. But although despair implies a total loss of hope, which despond does not, at least in every case, yet despondency is followed by the abandonment of effort, or cessation of action, and despair sometimes impels to violent action, even to rage.

DE-SPOND'EN-CY, n.

A sinking or dejection of spirits at the loss of hope; loss of courage at the failure of hope, or in deep affliction, or at the prospect of insurmountable difficulties.

DE-SPOND'ENT, a.

Losing courage at the loss of hope; sinking into dejection; depressed and inactive in despair. – Bentley. Thomson.

DE-SPOND'ER, n.

One destitute of hope.

DE-SPOND'ING, ppr.

Losing courage to act, in consequence of loss of hope, or of deep calamity, or of difficulties deemed insurmountable; sinking into dejection; despairing, with depression of spirits.

DE-SPOND'ING-LY, adv.

In a desponding manner; with dejection of spirits; despairingly.

DE-SPONS'ATE, v.t. [L. desponso.]

To betroth. [Not in use.]

DE-SPON-SA'TION, n.

A betrothing. [Not in use.]

DES'POT, n. [Gr. δεσποτης, a master or lord; It. despoto; Fr. despote; Sp. despoto.]

An emperor, king, or prince, invested with absolute power, or ruling without any control from men, constitution, or laws. Hence, in a general sense, a tyrant. – Burke.

DES-POT'IC, or DES-POT'IC-AL, a.

1. Absolute in power; independent of control from men, constitution, or laws; arbitrary in the exercise of power; as, a despotic prince.
2. Unlimited or unrestrained by constitution, laws, or men; absolute; arbitrary; as, despotic authority or power. – Addison. Swift.
3. Tyrannical.

DES-POT'IC-AL-LY, adv.

With unlimited power; arbitrarily; in a despotic manner. – Blackstone.

DES-POT'IC-AL-NESS, n.

Absolute or arbitrary authority.

DES'POT-ISM, n. [Sp. despotismo; Fr. despotisme.]

1. Absolute power; authority unlimited and uncontrolled by men, constitution or laws, and depending alone on the will of the prince; as, the despotism of a Turkish sultan.
2. An arbitrary government, as that of Turkey and Persia.

DES'PU-MATE, v.i. [L. despumo; de and spuma, froth or scum.]

To foam; to froth; to form froth or scum.

DES-PU-MA'TION, n.

The act of throwing off excrementitious matter and forming a froth or scum on the surface of liquor; clarification; scumming. – Coxe.

DES-QUA-MA'TION, n. [L. desquamo; de and squama, a scale.]

A scaling or exfoliation of bone; the separation of the cuticle in small scales. – Coxe.