D E S 
well as for his proficiency in other branches of literature ; 
on which account he was appointed profeflor of mathe¬ 
matics in the univerfity of Douay. He died in 1664, 
when he was about fixty-feven years of age. He was the 
inventor of a fphere of iron, wliich, by an ingenious ap¬ 
plication of mechanifm, illuftrated the motions of the 
fun, moon, and other planets. Among his publications 
are, 1. Vindiciee Trit/iemiana, five fpecimen Steganographic# 
Joannis Trithemii, quo AuBoris Ingenuitas demonflratur, & opus 
Superfitione abfolvitur, 1641, 4to. 2. AuBoritas Scriptur# 
J'acr# Hebraic#, Gr#c#, & Latin#, hoc ejl Textus Hebraici, 
Verftonis Septuaginta Interpretum, et Verfionis Vulgat#, 1651, 
4to. 3. Commentarius in Pfalterium Davidicum, quo fenjus 
hterahs tam Textus Hebraici quant Vulgat# brevitur exponitur. 
4. Calnidarium Romanum novum, et AJironomia AquicinBina, 
1637, fol. &c. 
DESPI'SABLE, adj. Contemptible; defpicable; re¬ 
garded with contempt. A word fcarcely ufed but in 
low converfation.—I am obliged to you for taking notice 
of a poor old diftreffed courtier, commonly the mod de. 
fpifable thing in the world. Arbuthnot. 
To DESPI'SE, v. a. [ defpifer , old Fr. Skinner ; dcfpicio, 
Lat.] Tofcorn; to contemn; to flight; to difrefpeft.— 
For, lo, I will make thee fmall among the heathen, and 
defpifed among men. Jer. xlix. 15.—In Shakefpeare it 
feems once to fignify abhor, as from the Italian defpcttare: 
Let not your ears defpife my tongue for ever, 
Which fliall poffefs them with the heavieft found 
That ever yet they heard. Shakefpeare. 
DESPI'SER,/. Contemner; fcorner.—Wifdom is 
•commonly, at long running, juftified even of her defpifers. 
Government of the Tongue. 
DESPI'SING,/. Contempt.—All my contempts and 
defpifings of thy fpiritual favours have not yet made thee 
withdraw them. Whole Duty of Man. 
DESPI'TE,/. [ fpijt , Dut. depit, Fr.} Malice; anger; 
malignity; malicioufnefs; fpleen; hatred.—Thou wretch! 
defpite o’erwhelm thee! Shakefpeare.- —Defiance; unfub- 
ffued oppofltion: 
Thou, with rebel infolence, didft dare 
To own and to proteft that hoary ruffian; 
And, in defpite ev’n of thy father’s juftice. 
To ftir the factious rabble up to arms. Rowe. 
Defpite (or defpight) is frequently ufed adverbially for in 
defpight. The infiance adduced above is of this kind, and 
alfo the tw’o following from Shakefpeare.—I’ll keep my 
own, defpight of all the world. Taming of the Shrew .-—Some 
good I mean to do, dejpight of mine own nature. Lear .— 
Aft of malice ; ail of oppofition: 
His puniffiment, eternal mifery, 
It would be all his folace and revenge, 
As a defpite done again!! the Moll High, 
Thee once to gain companion of his woe. Milton. 
To DESPI'TE, v.a. To vex ; to offend; to difappoint; 
to give uneafinefs to.—Saturn, with his wife Rhea, fled 
by night ; fetting the town on fire, to defpite Bacchus. 
Raleigh. 
DESPI'TEFUL, adj. Malicious; full of fpleen ; full 
of hate ; malignant; mifchievous : ufed both of perfons 
and things.—Preferve us from the hands of our defpiteful 
and deadly enemies. King Charles. 
Mean while the heinous and defpiteful aft 
Ot Satan, done in Paradife, was known 
In heav’n. Milton. 
DESPI'TEFULLY, adv. Malicioufly; malignantly.—• 
Pray for them that defpitefully ufe you, and perfecute you. 
Matlh. v. 44. 
DESPPTEFULNESS,/. Malice ; hate; malignity.— 
Let us examine him with defpitefulnefs and torture, that we 
know his meeknels, and prove his patience. Wifd. ii. 19. 
DESPI'TEOUS, adj. Malicious; furious. A word now 
out of ufe .— Turning defpiteous torture out of door. Shakejp, 
D E S 7 Gil 
DESPI'TEOUSLY, adv. In a furious manner; not 
in ufe : 
The mortal Heel dcfpiteoufv entail’d 
Deep in their flefli, quite through the iron w r alls, 
That a large purple llream adown their giambeux falls. 
Spenfer. 
To DESPO'IL, v.a. \_dfpolio , Lat.] To rob ; to de. 
prive; with of; 
He waits, with helliflt rancour imminent. 
To intercept thy way, or fend thee back 
DefpoiTd of innocence, of faith, o/'blifs. Milton. 
To divefl by any accident.—Thefe formed (tones, de- 
fpoilcd of their iliells, and expofed upon the (iirface of the 
ground, in time moulder away. Woodward. —Simply to 
(trip ; not in ufe : 
A groom ’gan dcfpoil 
Of puiffimt arms, and laid in eafy bed. Spenfer. 
DESPOLIA'TION,/. [from defpolio, Lat.] The aft 
of defpo.iling or (tripping. 
To DESPO'ND, v.a. \_defpondeo , Lat.] To defpair; 
to lofe hope ; to become hopelefs or defperate.—It is 
every man’s duty to labour in his calling, and not to 
defpond for any mifcarriages or difappointments that were 
not in his own power to prevent. VEf range. 
Phyfic is their bane : 
The learned leaches in defpair depart, 
And lhake their heads, defponding of their art. Dryden.. 
[In theology ] To lofe hope of the divine mercy.—He 
conflders what is the natural tendency of fuch a virtue, 
or fuch a vice : he is well apprized that the reprefenta- 
tion of fome of thefe things may convince the under- 
ftanding, fome may terrify the confcience, fome may 
allure the flothful, and fome encourage the defponding 
mind. Watts. 
DESPOND'ENCY,/. Defpair; hopeleffnefs; defpe- 
ration. 
DESPOND'ENT, adj. \defpondens, Lat.] Defpairing; 
hopelefs ; without hope : 
Congregated thruflves, linnets, fit 
On the dead tree, a dull defpondent flock. Thomfon. 
DESPOND'INGLY, adv. In a defponding manner.— 
If I had writ defpondingly to him, it is eafy to lee what turn 
would have been given to fuch a conduct. Bolingbrohe. 
To DESPON'SATE, v. a. [defponfo , Lat.] To betroth ; 
to affiance ; to unite by reciprocal promifes of marriage. 
DESPONSA'TION, f. The aft of betrothing perfons 
to each other. 
DESPOR'TES (Francis), a French painter, of the 
feventeenth century, born in Champagne in 1661. He 
acquired great reputation, not only in France, but in 
England and Poland, and particularly excelled in flilL 
life. He was received into the academy of painting, made 
piftures for the tapellry of the Gobelins, and died at 
Paris in 1743. 
DES'POT, f [cEOTroTijc, Gr. a governor, or ruler.] 
An abfolute prince ; one that governs with unlimited 
authority. The word in its firlt origin, fignified the fame 
with the Latin her us, and the Englilh majler ; but in time 
it underwent the fame fate on medals, as, among the 
Latins, Caefar did with regard to Auguflus; BAGI.AETC 
anfwering to Auguflus, and AECriOTHC, dfpotes, to 
Caefar. Thus, Nicephoros having ordered his Ion Stau- 
racius to be crowned, the fon, out of refpeft, would only 
take the name AECEIOTKC, leaving to his father that 
of BACIAEYC. This delicacy, however, did not lali 
long ; for the following emperors preferred the quality 
of AECnOTEC to that of BACIAEYC, particularly Con. 
ftantine, Michael Ducas, Nicephorus Botoniates, Roma¬ 
nos Diogenes, the Comneni, and fome others. In imi¬ 
tation of the princes, the princelfes likewife affiimed the 
title of AECnoiNA. It was the emperor Alexius, fur- 
named the Angel, that created the dignity of defpot, and 
made 
