scorn

English

Etymology

Verb from Middle English scornen, schornen, alteration of Old French escharnir, from Vulgar Latin *escarnire, from Proto-West Germanic *skarnijan, possibly from Proto-Germanic *skeraną (“to shear”) (from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”)), or possibly related to *skarną (“dung, filth”) (from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱerd-, *(s)ḱer- (“dung, manure, filth”)). Noun from Old French escarn (cognate with Portuguese escárnio, Spanish escarnio and Italian scherno). Cognate with Middle High German schern (“joke, mockery, scorn”), Old English sċierniċġe (“female entertainer, juggler, actress”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /skɔːn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /skɔɹn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n

Verb

scorn (third-person singular simple present scorns, present participle scorning, simple past and past participle scorned)

1. (transitive) To feel or display contempt or disdain for something or somebody; to despise.

   Synonyms: contemn, disdain; see also Thesaurus:despise, Thesaurus:jeer at

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], page 150:

     The Cry is ſtill, they come: our Caſtles ſtrength / Will laugh a Siedge to ſcorne

   • 1871, C. J. Smith, Synonyms Discriminated:

     We scorn what is in itself contemptible or disgraceful.

2. (transitive) To reject, turn down.

   He scorned her romantic advances.

   • 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 39:

     Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.

3. (transitive) To refuse to do something, as beneath oneself.

   She scorned to show weakness.

4. (intransitive) To scoff, to express contempt.

   Synonyms: deride, mock, ridicule, scoff, sneer; see also Thesaurus:sneer

   • 1578–1579, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale. [...] Dedicated to the Right Honorable the Ladie Compton and Mountegle”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. Whereof the Next Page Maketh Mention‎^[1], London: Imprinted for William Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head, published 1591, →OCLC:

     For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb which takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Translations

to feel contempt or disdain for something or somebody

• Arabic: اِحْتَقَرَ (iḥtaqara)
• Bulgarian: презирам (bg) (preziram)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鄙薄 (zh) (bǐbó)

• Czech: opovrhovat (cs), pohrdat (cs)
• Dutch: minachten (nl), verachten (nl)
• Finnish: halveksia (fi), halveksua (fi)
• French: mépriser (fr), dédaigner (fr)
• German: verachten (de)
• Greek: περιφρονώ (el) (perifronó)
• Hebrew: בָּז (báz)
• Hindi: तिरस्कार करना (hi) (tiraskār karnā)
• Hungarian: megvet (hu), lenéz (hu), pocskondiáz (hu)
• Italian: disprezzare (it), disdegnare (it)
• Japanese: 蔑む (ja) (sagesumu), 見下す (mikudasu)
• Kazakh: елемеу (elemeu), елемеу, елең қылмау (elemeu, eleñ qylmau)
• Latin: contemnō
• Maori: whakareko, tokoreko
• Middle English: scornen
• Old English: ǣwan
• Polish: gardzić (pl), lekceważyć (pl)
• Portuguese: desprezar (pt), desdenhar (pt), menosprezar (pt)
• Quechua: alqochay
• Romanian: disprețui (ro)
• Russian: презира́ть (ru) (prezirátʹ), относи́ться с пренебрежением (otnosítʹsja s prenebreženijem)
• Scots: scorn
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: презирати

  Roman: prezirati (sh)

• Slovak: opovrhovať
• Spanish: despreciar (es) m, desdeñar (es), menospreciar (es)
• Tamil: இகழ் (ta) (ikaḻ)
• Vietnamese: khinh bỉ (vi), khinh miệt (vi)

to reject, turn down

• Arabic: استنكف
• Bulgarian: оъхвърлям с презрение (oǎhvǎrljam s prezrenie)
• Czech: odmítat (cs) impf
• Finnish: torjua (fi), antaa piupaut
• German: verschmähen (de)
• Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (frakunnan)
• Greek: περιφρονώ (el) (perifronó)
• Italian: disprezzare (it)
• Japanese: 撥ね付ける (ja) (hanetsukeru)
• Latin: spernō, reiciō
• Middle English: scornen
• Polish: wzgardzić, odrzucić (pl)
• Romanian: respinge (ro), refuza (ro)
• Russian: отвергать (ru) impf (otvergatʹ)
• Slovak: ohrdnúť, odmietnuť
• Spanish: rechazar (es)

to refuse to do something, as beneath oneself

• Finnish: kieltäytyä (fi)

to scoff or express contempt

• Arabic: استخف
• Bulgarian: присмивам се (prismivam se)
• Czech: opovrhovat (cs) impf, pohrdat (cs) impf
• Finnish: halveksia (fi), ylenkatsoa, ivata (fi)
• French: mépriser (fr)
• German: verspotten (de)
• Japanese: 嘲る (ja) (あざける, azakeru), 嘲う (ja) (あざわらう, azawarau)
• Maori: hīkaka te ihu, whakahoe
• Middle English: scornen
• Polish: szydzić (pl), drwić (pl)
• Romanian: disprețui (ro), urî (ro)
• Russian: насмехаться (ru) (nasmexatʹsja), глумиться (ru) (glumitʹsja)
• Scots: scorn
• Spanish: escarnecer (es)
• Swedish: förakta (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 蔑視 / 蔑视 (zh) (mièshì), ^{(please verify)} 蔑视 (zh) (mièshì)

Noun

scorn (countable and uncountable, plural scorns)

1. (uncountable) Contempt or disdain.
   • 1967, John Berryman, Berryman’s Sonnets, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux:

     Rain of tears, real, mist of imagined scorn

2. (countable) A display of disdain; a slight.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:

     VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.

   • 1685, John Dryden, The Despairing Lover:

     Every sullen frown and bitter scorn / But fanned the fuel that too fast did burn.

3. (countable) An object of disdain, contempt, or derision.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 44:13:

     Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.

Usage notes

• Scorn is often used in the phrases pour scorn on and heap scorn on.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:contempt

Derived terms

• laugh to scorn
• scornful

Translations

contempt, disdain

• Bulgarian: презрение (bg) n (prezrenie)
• Catalan: menyspreu (ca) m, desdeny (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 輕蔑 / 轻蔑 (zh) (qīngmiè)

• Czech: opovržení (cs) n
• Dutch: minachting (nl) f, verachting (nl) f
• Esperanto: malestimo (eo)
• Finnish: ylenkatse, pilkka (fi)
• French: mépris (fr) m, dédain (fr) m
• German: Verachtung (de) f
• Greek: περιφρόνηση (el) f (perifrónisi)
• Hebrew: שאט־נפש (sh'át-néfesh)
• Hungarian: megvetés (hu)
• Irish: dímheas m, tarcaisne f
• Italian: disprezzo (it) m
• Japanese: 軽蔑 (ja) (keibetsu), 鄙薄 (ja) (hihaku)
• Korean: 경멸 (ko) (gyeongmyeol)
• Latin: contemptus m
• Middle English: scorn
• Persian: حقارت (fa) (heqârat)
• Plautdietsch: Spott m
• Polish: pogarda (pl) f, lekceważenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: desprezo (pt) m, escárnio (pt) m, desdém (pt) m
• Romanian: dispreț (ro) n
• Russian: презре́ние (ru) (prezrénije)
• Scots: scorn
• Slovak: opovrhnutie n, pohŕdanie n
• Spanish: desprecio (es) m, desdén (es) m, escarnio (es), ludibrio (es) (formal)
• Swedish: förakt (sv), hån (sv)
• Tocharian B: maṣṣāt

References

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Scorn”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN

Anagrams

• Crons, corns

Middle English

Etymology 1

From earlier scarn, scharn, borrowed from Old Northern French escarn and central Old French escharn, from Late Latin *scarnium.

For the vocalism in -o-, see scornen (“to scorn”).

Alternative forms

• schoren, schorn, skorn
• scarn, scharn, skarn, skoarn (Early Middle English)
• scoorn, scorne, schorne, sckorn, skorne (Late Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skɔːrn/, /skɔrn/, /ʃɔːrn/, /ʃɔrn/
• IPA^(key): /skɑːrn/, /ʃɑːrn/ (Early Middle English)

Noun

scorn (uncountable)

1. Scorn, contempt; the feeling that something is beneath oneself.
2. Abuse, humiliation, derision; scornful treatment.
3. An insult; a derisory or contemptuous statement, action, or thing.

Related terms

• scornen
• scornere
• scornful

Descendants

• English: scorn
• Middle Scots: scorn, scorne
  • Scots: scorn

References

• “scō̆rn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Verb

scorn

1. (Late Middle English or Northern) alternative form of scornen

Scots

Alternative forms

• scoarn

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Scots scorn, scorne, from Northern Middle English scorn, scorne (replacing expected *scarne due to the influence of southern scornen), from Old French escarnir, escharnir, from Late Latin *scarnīre, *scernīre, of disputed origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skoːrn/

Verb

scorn (third-person singular simple present scorns, present participle scornin, simple past and past participle scorned)

1. To scorn or despise; to think of with contempt.
2. To jeer or ridicule; to behave derisively towards:
   1. To mock; to derisively imitiate.
   2. To tease; to playfully or unseriously ridicule.

Related terms

• scornfu

Noun

scorn (uncountable)

1. Scorn, contempt; the feeling that something is beneath oneself.
   • 1983, William Lorimer, transl., The New Testament in Scots, Edinburgh: Canongate, published 2001, →ISBN, →OCLC, I Corinthians 4:10, page 286:

     We ar fuils for our sairin o Christ, an ye ar wysslike members o Christ; we ar sillie, an ye ar strang; ye ar hauden in honour, an we ar hauden in scorn bi the warld.

     We are fools in our help towards Christ, but you are wise believers in Christ; we're feeble, but you're strong; you're held in esteem, but we're viewed with contempt by the world.

2. A snub; a harsh or cold refusal.

References

• “scorn, n., v.¹”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.