despect

Definition

Contempt, derision.

Etymology

From Middle English despect (“contempt, spite”), from Latin dēspectus (“a looking down upon, contempt”), from dēspicere (“to look down upon, despise, scorn”), from dē (“down”) + specere (“to look at, behold”), equivalent to de- + -spect.

Example Sentences

• "In 488 A.D. the then very young, energetic, clever and deceitful king Kavadh succeeded to the throne. The rule was actually in the hands of the most powerful nobleman, Sokhra of the Karen family, who had won fame in the war against the Huns. Sokhra treated the young king with despect as a boy. The king's anger over Sokhra's treatment of him was exploited by another nobleman, Shapur of the Mihran family, who helped Kavadh to remove the regent."
• "The majority of the most famous botanists of the 17th century raised their eyebrows in despect of this hypothesis of sex in plants as a new chimera and a ridiculous mental abortion of some persons who wanted to impress and delude the learned world."
• "Interpretative potential of the Middle Paleolithic, a type of industry too widely distributed over large surfaces of the North African desert landscapes, is usually considered with despect in the archaeological literature."

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