noun
- state of being despondent; depression of spirits from loss of courage or hope; dejection.
1670s, from Latin despondere “to give up, lose, lose heart, resign, to promise in marriage” (especially in phrase animam despondere, literally “give up one’s soul”), from the sense of a promise to give something away, from de- “away” (see de-) + spondere “to promise” (see spondee). A condition more severe than despair.
1650s; see despondence + -cy.