de spite

preposition

in spite of; notwithstanding.

noun

contemptuous treatment; insult.

malice, hatred, or spite.

verb (used with object)

Obsolete. to anger or annoy (someone) out of spite.

Idioms

in despite of, in spite of; notwithstanding: He was tolerant in despite of his background and education.

Origin:
1250–1300; orig. in despite of; Middle English despit < Old French < Latin dēspectus view from a height, scorn, equivalent to dēspec-, variant stem of dēspicere (see despicable) + -tus suffix of v. action

Synonyms
1. See notwithstanding.

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the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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World English Dictionary

despite (dɪˈspaɪt)

—*prep*
1.	in spite of; undeterred by

—n
2.	archaic contempt; insult
3.	rare (preposition) in despite of in spite of

—vb
4.	(tr) an archaic word for spite

[C13: from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectus contempt; see despise]

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

despite

c.1300, from O.Fr. despit, from L. despectus "a looking down on," from despicere (see despise). The preposition (1593) is short for in despite of (1292), a loan-translation of Fr. en despit de "in contempt of." Almost became despight during 16c. spelling reform.

Matching Quote

"In France, and at the most important period of our history, Catherine de' Medici has suffered more from popular error than any other woman, unless it be Brunehaut or Frédégonde; while Marie de' Medici, whose every action was prejudicial to France, has escaped the disgrace that should cover her name.... Catherine de' Medici ... saved the throne of France, she maintained [the] Royal authority under circumstances to which more than one great prince would have succumbed. Face to face with such leaders of the factions and ambitions of the houses of Guise and of Bourbon as the two Cardinals de Lorraine and the two "Balafrès," the two Princes de Condé, Queen Jeanne d'Albret, Henri IV, the Connétable de Montmorency, Calvin, the Colignys and Théodore de Bèze, she was forced to put forth the rarest fine qualities, the most essential gifts of statesmanship, under the fire of the Calvinist press."

-Honoré De Balzac

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