vilipend
/ˈvɪləˌpɛnd/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To treat (something) as inconsequential or worthless; to despise, to look down on.
Dated; Formal; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "But we desire, most unhesitatingly to condemn and vilipend a system of continual abuse, intended to fall upon the provincial Government, but in reality reaching and injuring the public at large."
- "But, for all their feint of nonchalance, these young persons have no other task in life but to explain and extol their own conduct and to vilipend their critics and opponents."
Etymology
From Middle English vilipenden (“to treat (something) as contemptible”) [and other forms], from Old French vilipender (modern French vilipender (“to condemn, despise, revile, scorn, vilipend, vilify”)), or its etymon Latin vilipendō, from vīlis (“cheap, inexpensive; base, mean, vile, worthless”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to buy, sell”)) + pendō (“to hang, suspend; to weigh, weigh out; (figuratively) to consider, ponder”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”)). The English word is cognate with Italian vilipendere (“to despise, scorn, vilipend”), Portuguese vilipendiar (“to vilify”), Spanish vilipendiar (“to vilify”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *wes-, vilipenden, vilipender, vilipendō, *(s)pend-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈvɪləˌpɛnd/
- British English: /ˈvɪlɪpɛnd/
Usage
Inflected Forms
vilipends (present, singular)
vilipending (participle, present)
vilipended (participle, past)
vilipended (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
vilipended (first person, past)
vilipended (past, second person)
vilipendeth (archaic, present)
vilipended (past, singular)
vilipended (past, plural)
vilipended (past, subjunctive)