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spite

(spīt)

Malicious ill will prompting an urge to hurt or humiliate another person.

tr.v. spit·ed, spit·ing, spites

To treat with spite; show spite toward: "Maybe she became engaged to him in order to spite another man" (Nathaniel West).

Idiom:

in spite of

Not stopped by; regardless of: They kept going in spite of their fears.

[Middle English, short for despit; see DESPITE.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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