Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SCORN, n. [Sp. escarnio, scorn; escarnecer, to mock; Port. escarneo, escarnecer; It. scherno, schernire; W. ysgorn, ysgorniaw.]

1. Extreme contempt; that disdain which springs from a person's opinion of the meanness of an object, and a consciousness or belief of his own superiority or worth. He thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone. – Esth. iii. Every sullen frown and bitter scorn / But fann'd the fuel that too fast did burn. – Dryden.
2. A subject of extreme contempt, disdain or derision; that which is treated with contempt. Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to them that are around us. – Ps. xliv. To think scorn, to disdain; to despise. [Obs.] – Sidney. To laugh to scorn, to deride; to make a mock of; to ridicule as contemptible. They laughed us to scorn. – Neh. ii.