Etymograph

English

esperance

Esperance comes from Middle French esperance ‘hope’, from Proto-Indo-European *spéh₁s ‘prosperity’, and ultimately from *speh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speh₁-1‘to succeed, prosper’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spéh₁s1‘prosperity’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spēs1‘hope’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspēs2‘hope’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspērō3as spērāre‘to hope, expect’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esperer4‘to hope’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600esperer5‘to hope’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600esperance5‘hope’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602esperance5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin spes
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin spero
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French esperer
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle French esperer
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English esperance
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida: “Sith yet there is a credence in my heart,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speh₁-Wiktionary, Latin spes‘to succeed, prosper’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spéh₁sWiktionary, Latin spes‘prosperity’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spēsWiktionary, Latin spes‘hope’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspēsWiktionary, Latin spero‘hope’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspērōWiktionary, Old French espereras spērāre‘to hope, expect’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400espererWiktionary, Middle French esperer‘to hope’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600espererWiktionary, English esperance‘to hope’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600esperanceWiktionary, English esperance‘hope’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602esperanceWiktionary, English esperance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida: “Sith yet there is a credence in my heart,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- ‘to succeed, prosper’

speed, spare, spatial, spat, prosper, 5 more

through Latin spērō ‘to hope, expect’

desperate, despair, desperation, desperado, 2 more

Today it means

noun Expectation, hope.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “esperance”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin spes, Latin spero, Old French esperer, Middle French esperer. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- / esperance

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