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"desperate" in seven languages

Meaningdesperate

Spanish

desesperado

/desespeˈɾado/

other source · des- + esperar (Latin SPĒRĀRE 'to hope')

French

désespéré

/dezɛspeʁe/

other source · dés- + espérer (Latin SPĒRĀRE 'to hope')

Italian

disperato

/dispeˈrato/

inherited

Portuguese

desesperado

/dezespeˈɾadu/

other source · des- + esperar (Latin SPĒRĀRE 'to hope')

Romanian

disperat

/dispeˈrat/

borrowed · Italian disperato

Catalan

desesperat

/dəzəspəˈɾat/

other source · des- + esperar (Latin SPĒRĀRE 'to hope')

English

desperate

/ˈdɛspəɹɪt/

from Latin/French · Latin DĒSPĒRĀTUM

English → ItaliandesperatedisperatoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

DĒSPĒRĀTUM‘given up hope (DĒSPĒRĀRE)’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Italian disperato continues Latin DĒSPĒRĀRE; Spanish and French rebuilt the word on their own verbs for 'to hope', esperar and espérer, so the root is still visible: desesperado.

English relatives: despair, esperanza (es)

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In a sentence

  • esEstaba desesperado por encontrar trabajo.
  • frIl était désespéré de ne pas trouver de travail.
  • itEra disperato perché non trovava lavoro.
  • ptEle estava desesperado para encontrar trabalho.
  • roEra disperat să-și găsească de lucru.
  • caEstava desesperat per trobar feina.
  • enHe was desperate to find work.

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