hope

See also: Hope and hopë

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hōp, IPA^(key): /həʊp/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /hoʊp/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊp

Etymology 1

From Middle English hopen, from Old English hopian (“hope”), from Proto-West Germanic *hopōn, further etymology unclear.

Verb

hope (third-person singular simple present hopes, present participle hoping, simple past and past participle hoped)

1. (intransitive, transitive) To want something to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might.

   I hope everyone enjoyed the meal.

   I am still hoping that all will turn out well.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.

   • 1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 593:

     It is to be hoped that some corresponding smartening up of these other schedules may be expected before long.

   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

2. To be optimistic; be full of hope; have hopes.
3. (intransitive) To place confidence; to trust with confident expectation of good; usually followed by in.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms cxix:81:

     I hope in thy word.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms xlii:11:

     Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.

4. (transitive, dialectal, nonstandard) To wish.

   I hope you all the best.

Usage notes

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

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to want something to happen, with the expectation it might”): wish

Derived terms

• cross my heart and hope to die
• here's hoping
• hit and hope
• hoped for
• I hope I may be shot
• I hope you're happy

 

Translations

to want something to happen, with expectation that it might

Afrikaans: hoop (af) Albanian: shpreson Arabic: أَمَلَ (ʔamala), رَجَا (rajā), تَأَمَّلَ (taʔammala) Egyptian Arabic: اتمنى (atmanā) Hijazi Arabic: اتمنى (atmanna), امَّل (ammal) South Levantine Arabic: تأمّل (tʔammal), تمنّى (tmanna) Armenian: հուսալ (hy) (husal) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܵܒ݂ܹܪ (sawer) Asturian: esperar Azerbaijani: ümid etmək, ummaq Belarusian: спадзява́цца impf (spadzjavácca), паспадзява́цца pf (paspadzjavácca) Bengali: আশা করা (aśa kora) Biatah Bidayuh: harap Breton: esperi (br) Bulgarian: надя́вам се impf (nadjávam se) Burmese: ရည် (my) (rany), မျှော် (my) (hmyau), ထင်စား (my) (htangca:), မျှော်လင့် (my) (hmyaulang.) Catalan: esperar (ca), desitjar (ca) Cebuano: laom Chinese: Cantonese: 希望 (hei1 mong6) Dungan: зывон (zɨvon), панвон (panvon) Eastern Min: 希望 (hi-bāng) Hakka: 希望 (hî-mong) Hokkien: 希望 (zh-min-nan) (hi-bāng) Mandarin: 希望 (zh) (xīwàng), 盼望 (zh) (pànwàng), 指望 (zh) (zhǐwàng) Wu: 希望 (1shi-maon) Czech: doufat (cs) impf Danish: håbe (da) Dutch: hopen (nl) Elfdalian: oppas, uppas Esperanto: esperi (eo) Estonian: lootma Faroese: vóna, hopa Finnish: toivoa (fi) French: espérer (fr) Friulian: sperâ Galician: esperar (gl) Georgian: იმედოვნება (imedovneba) German: hoffen (de) Gothic: 𐍅𐌴𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wēnjan) Greek: ελπίζω (el) (elpízo) Ancient Greek: ἐλπίζω (elpízō) Hebrew: קיווה \ קִוָּה (kivá) Hiligaynon: laum Hindi: आशा करना (āśā karnā), उम्मीद करना (ummīd karnā) Hungarian: remél (hu), reménykedik (hu) Icelandic: vona (is), gera sér vonir um Ido: esperar (io) Indonesian: harap (id), berharap (id) Ingrian: toivoa, sallia Interlingua: sperar Irish: bí ag súil, bí i ndóchas Italian: sperare (it) Japanese: 希望する (ja) (きぼうする, kibō suru), 望む (ja) (のぞむ, nozomu) Kazakh: дәмелену (dämelenu), сену (senu), үміттену (ümıttenu) Khmer: សង្ឃឹម (km) (sɑngkhɨm) Korean: 바라다 (ko) (barada), 희망하다 (ko) (huimanghada), 원하다 (ko) (wonhada) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hêvî kirin (ku), hêvîdar bûn (ku) Kyrgyz: үмүт кылуу (ky) (ümüt kıluu), ишенүү (ky) (işenüü), эш кылуу (eş kıluu) Lao: ຫວັງ (wang), ຄາດຫວັງ (khāt wang) Latin: spērō (la) Latvian: cerēt Lithuanian: trokšti, viltis (lt), tikėtis (lt) Low German: German Low German: hapen Luxembourgish: hoffen Macedonian: се надева impf (se nadeva) Malay: harap (ms), berharap Maltese: ttama, spera Mirandese: sperar Mongolian: Cyrillic: найдах (mn) (najdax) Norman: espéther Norwegian: Bokmål: håpe (no) Nynorsk: håpa Occitan: esperar (oc) Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: оупъвати impf (upŭvati) Old Dutch: hopon, hopan Old English: hopian Old Frisian: hopia Old Saxon: hopon Persian: امیدوار بودن (fa) (omidvâr budan) Polish: mieć nadzieję (pl) impf, spodziewać się (pl) impf Portuguese: esperar (pt) Romanian: spera (ro), nădăjdui (ro) Romansch: sperar, sperer Russian: наде́яться (ru) impf (nadéjatʹsja), упова́ть (ru) impf (upovátʹ) Sardinian: isperai, isperare, sperai Scottish Gaelic: dòchas m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: на́дати се impf, у̀фати се impf Roman: nádati se (sh) impf, ùfati se (sh) impf Sinhalese: බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා (balāporottu wenawā) Slovak: dúfať impf Slovene: upati (sl) impf Southern Altai: иженер (ižener) Spanish: esperar (es), esperanzarse (es), ojalá (es) (adverb), aguardar (es), desear (es), amalaya (es) (adverb), ahuciarse Sranan Tongo: howpu Swahili: tumaini (sw) Swedish: hoppas (sv) Tabasaran: умуд (umud) Tagalog: umasa, asahan (tl), sana Tajik: умедвор будан (umedvor budan), умед доштан (umed doštan) Tatar: өмет итәргә (ömet itärgä) Telugu: ఆశించు (te) (āśiñcu) Thai: หวัง (th) (wǎng), คาดหวัง (kâat-wǎng) Turkish: ummak (tr), umut etmek (tr), ümit etmek (tr) Turkmen: umyt etmek, tama etmek Ukrainian: наді́ятися impf (nadíjatysja), сподіва́тися impf (spodivátysja), упова́ти impf (upováty) Urdu: اُمِّید کَرْنا (ummīd karnā) Uyghur: ئۈمىد قىلماق (ümid qilmaq) Uzbek: umid qilmoq (uz) Vietnamese: hy vọng (vi) (希望), mong (vi) Welsh: gobeithio (cy) West Frisian: hoopje Yiddish: האָפֿן (hofn) Zazaki: omıd kerden Zhuang: hihvang, maqmuengh, muengh

See also

• aspire
• desire
• expect
• look forward
• want

Etymology 2

From Middle English hope, from Old English hopa (“hope, expectation”), from the same source as the verb hope.

Noun

hope (countable and uncountable, plural hopes)

1. (countable or uncountable) The feeling of trust, confidence, belief or expectation that something wished for can or will happen.

   I still have some hope that I can get to work on time.

   After losing my job, there's no hope of being able to afford my world cruise.

   There is still hope that we can find our missing cat.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out.

2. (countable) The actual thing wished for.
3. (countable) A person or thing that is a source of hope.

   We still have one hope left: my roommate might see the note I left on the table.

4. (Christianity, uncountable) The virtuous desire for future good.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 13:13:

     But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Derived terms

• abandon hope all ye who enter here
• all hope abandon ye who enter here
• beacon of hope
• Cape of Good Hope
• dash someone's hopes
• get one's hopes up
• glimmer of hope
• great white hope
• hope against hope
• hope chess
• hope chest
• hopeful
• hopeium
• hopeless
• hopenosis
• hoper
• hope springs eternal
• hope springs eternal in the human breast
• in the hope of
• in the hope that
• keep hope alive
• live in hope
• Mount Hope
• no-hoper
• overhope
• prisoner of hope
• ray of hope
• unhope
• wanhope
• white hope

 

Related terms

• forlorn hope

Translations

belief that something wished for can happen

Afrikaans: hoop (af) Albanian: shpresë (sq) f Amharic: ተስፋ (täsfa) Arabic: أَمَل m (ʔamal), رَجَاء (ar) m (rajāʔ) Egyptian Arabic: امل m (amal) Aragonese: asperanza f Aramaic: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܲܒ݂ܪܵܐ m (sāwra), ܗܹܒ݂ܝܼ m (hēwī) Classical Syriac: ܣܒܪܐ m Armenian: հույս (hy) (huys) Assamese: হেঁপাহ (hẽpah), আশা (axa) Asturian: esperanza f Azerbaijani: ümid (az) Baluchi: امیت Bashkir: өмөт (ömöt), ышаныс (ışanıs) Basque: itxaropen (eu), esperantza Belarusian: надзе́я f (nadzjéja), надзёжа f (nadzjóža) (colloquial) Bengali: আশা (bn) (aśa), উমেদ (bn) (umed) Breton: esper (br) f Bulgarian: наде́жда (bg) f (nadéžda) Burmese: မျှော်လင့်ချက် (my) (hmyaulang.hkyak) Catalan: esperança (ca) f Cebuano: paglaom Cherokee: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Cantonese: 希望 (hei1 mong6), 指望 (zi2 mong6), 盼望 (paan3 mong6) Mandarin: 希望 (zh) (xīwàng), 指望 (zh) (zhǐwàng), 盼望 (zh) (pànwàng) Cornish: govenek m Corsican: sperenza Czech: naděje (cs) f Danish: håb (da) n Dolgan: эрэбил (erebil) Dutch: hoop (nl) m or f Elfdalian: up n Esperanto: espero (eo) Estonian: lootus Ewe: mɔkpɔkpɔ Faroese: vón f Finnish: toivo (fi) French: espoir (fr) m, espérance (fr) f Friulian: sperance f Galician: esperanza (gl) f Georgian: იმედი (imedi) German: Hoffnung (de) f Gothic: 𐍅𐌴𐌽𐍃 f (wēns), 𐌻𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 f (lubains) Greek: ελπίδα (el) f (elpída) Ancient: ἐλπίς f (elpís) Greenlandic: neriugisaq, neriuut Gujarati: આશા (āśā) Haitian Creole: lespwa Hausa: please add this translation if you can Hawaiian: manaʻolana Hebrew: תִּקְוָה (he) f (tikvá), יְהָב (he) m (yeháv) Higaonon: paglaum Hiligaynon: paglaum Hindi: आशा (hi) f (āśā), उम्मीद (hi) f (ummīd) Hungarian: remény (hu), reménykedés (hu) Icelandic: von (is) f Ido: espero (io) Indonesian: harapan (id) Interlingua: sperantia Irish: dóchas m, súil (ga) f, dúil f Istriot: sparansa f Italian: speranza (it) f Japanese: 希望 (ja) (きぼう, kibō), 期待 (ja) (きたい, kitai) Javanese: please add this translation if you can Kannada: ಭರವಸೆ (kn) (bharavase) Karachay-Balkar: ышанч (ışanç) Kazakh: үміт (ümıt), дәме (däme) Khmer: សង្ឃឹម (km) (sɑngkhɨm) Korean: 바람 (ko) (baram), 희망(希望) (ko) (huimang), 기대(期待) (ko) (gidae) Krymchak: акибат (akibat) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ئومێد (ckb) (umêd), ھیوا (ckb) (hîwa) Northern Kurdish: hêvî (ku), umêd (ku), umîd (ku) Kyrgyz: үмүт (ky) (ümüt) Lao: ຄວາມຫວັງ (lo) (khuām wang) Latgalian: nūceja Latin: spēs f Latvian: cerība f Lezgi: умуд (umud) Lithuanian: viltis (lt) f Luxembourgish: Hoffnung f Macedonian: надеж f (nadež) Malay: harapan (ms), asa (ms) Malayalam: പ്രതീക്ഷ (ml) (pratīkṣa) Maltese: tama Maore Comorian: tama class 9 Maori: awhero, tūmanako, manawa ora Marathi: आशा (mr) (āśā) Mirandese: sperança Mongolian: Cyrillic: итгэл (mn) (itgel), найдвар (mn) (najdvar), горьдлого (mn) (gorʹdlogo) Navajo: sih, chohooʼį́, hojoobaʼ Nepali: आशा (ne) (āśā) Norwegian: Bokmål: håp (no) n, forhåpning m or f Nynorsk: håp n, forhåpning f Occitan: esperança (oc) f Odia: ଆଶା (āśā) Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: надежда f (nadežda), оупъваниѥ n (upŭvanije) Old East Slavic: надежа f (nadeža) Old English: tōhopa m Old Norse: ván f Old Occitan: sperança Old Prussian: nadruwīsnā Papiamentu: speransa Pashto: اسره (ps) f (asra), امته (ps) f (amta), اومېن m (umen), رجا (ps) f (rejā), نمت m (namat), هيله (ps) f (hila), امېد m (omed) Persian: Dari: اُمید (umēd), اُمّید (ummēd) Iranian Persian: اُمید (omid), اُمّید (ommid) Plautdietsch: Hopninj f Polish: nadzieja (pl) f Portuguese: esperança (pt) f Punjabi: ਉਮੀਦ (pa) (umīd), ਆਸ਼ਾ (pa) f (āśā) Romanian: speranță (ro) f, nădejde (ro) f Romansch: speranza f, spraunza f, speronza f, sprànza f Russian: наде́жда (ru) f (nadéžda), надёжа (ru) f (nadjóža) (low colloquial or folk poetic) Sanskrit: आशा (sa) f (āśā), आशंसा (sa) f (āśaṃsā) Sardinian: ispera f, isperiu Scottish Gaelic: dòchas m, dùil f, sùil f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: на́да f Roman: náda (sh) f Sinhalese: බලාපොරොත්තුව (si) (balāporottuwa) Slovak: nádej (sk) f Slovene: upanje (sl) n Somali: rajo Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: naźeja f Southern Altai: ижениш (iženiš) Spanish: esperanza (es) f Sranan Tongo: howpu Swahili: matumaini (sw) Swedish: hopp (sv) n Tabasaran: умуд (umud) Tagalog: pag-asa Tajik: умед (tg) (umed) Tamil: நம்பிக்கை (ta) (nampikkai) Tatar: өмет (tt) (ömet) Telugu: ఆశ (te) (āśa) Thai: ความหวัง (th) (kwaam-wǎng) Tibetan: རེ་བ (re ba) Tigrinya: ተስፋ (täsfa) Tocharian B: pärmaṅk Turkish: umut (tr), ümit (tr) Turkmen: umyt Tuvaluan: fakamoemoēga Ukrainian: наді́я f (nadíja) Urdu: اُمِّید (ur) f (ummīd), آشا (ur) f (āśā) Uyghur: ئۈمىد (ümid) Uzbek: umid (uz) Venetan: speransa (vec) f Vietnamese: hy vọng (vi) (希望) Volapük: spel (vo) Walloon: èspèrance f, espwer (wa) m Waray-Waray: dahum Welsh: gobaith (cy) m West Frisian: hope Yiddish: האָפֿענונג f (hofenung) Zazaki: mınet , omıd c du Zhuang: hihvang Zulu: themba, ethemba

person or thing that is a source of hope

Albanian: shpresë (sq) Arabic: أَمَل m (ʔamal), رَجَاء (ar) m (rajāʔ) Armenian: հույս (hy) (huys) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܲܒ݂ܪܵܐ m (sāwra), ܗܹܒ݂ܝܼ m (hēwī) Azerbaijani: ümid (az), umacaq Belarusian: надзе́я f (nadzjéja) Bulgarian: наде́жда (bg) f (nadéžda) Catalan: esperança (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 願望／愿望 (zh) (yuànwàng) Czech: naděje (cs) f Danish: håb (da) n Dutch: hoop (nl) m or f Esperanto: espero (eo) Estonian: lootus Ewe: mɔkpɔkpɔ Faroese: vón f Finnish: toivo (fi) French: espoir (fr) m German: Hoffnung (de) f Greek: ελπίδα (el) f (elpída) Hebrew: תקווה (he) f (tikvá) Hungarian: remény (hu), reménység (hu) Icelandic: vona (is) Ido: esperanto (io) Indonesian: harapan (id) Interlingua: sperantia Italian: speranza (it) f Japanese: 希望 (ja) (きぼう, kibō), 願望 (ja) (がんぼう, ganbō) Khmer: សង្ឃឹម (km) (sɑngkhɨm) Korean: 바램 (ko) (baraem), 희망(希望) (ko) (huimang) Latin: spēs f Latvian: cerība f Lithuanian: viltis (lt) f Luxembourgish: Hoffnung f Macedonian: надеж f (nadež) Malay: harapan (ms) Norwegian: Bokmål: håp (no) n Nynorsk: håp n Old English: tōhopa m Polish: nadzieja (pl) f Portuguese: esperança (pt) f Romanian: speranță (ro) f, nădejde (ro) f Russian: наде́жда (ru) f (nadéžda) Scottish Gaelic: dòchas m, dùil f, sùil f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: нада f Roman: nada (sh) f Slovene: up (sl) m Spanish: esperanza (es) f Swahili: matumaini (sw) Swedish: hopp (sv) n, förhoppning (sv) c Tagalog: pag-asa, inaasahan Turkish: umut (tr), ümit (tr) Ukrainian: наді́я f (nadíja) Vietnamese: nguồn hy vọng

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

Afrikaans: (please verify) hoop (af) Gujarati: (please verify) આસ્થા (āsthā) Ido: (please verify) espero (io) Indonesian: (please verify) harapan (id) Lithuanian: (please verify) noras (lt) Persian: (please verify) امید (fa) (omid) Scottish Gaelic: (please verify) dòchas Slovak: (please verify) nádej (sk) Sranan Tongo: (please verify) winsi Swahili: (please verify) matarajio (sw) Telugu: (please verify) ఆశ (te) (āśa)

Etymology 3

From Middle English hope (“a valley”), from Old English hōp (found only in placenames). More at hoop.

Noun

hope (plural hopes)

1. (Should we move, merge or split⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (Northern England, Scotland) A hollow; a valley, especially the upper end of a narrow mountain valley when it is nearly encircled by smooth, green slopes; a combe.

Etymology 4

From Icelandic hóp (“a small bay or inlet”). Cognate with English hoop.

Noun

hope (plural hopes)

1. (Should we move, merge or split⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A sloping plain between mountain ridges.
2. (Scotland) A small bay; an inlet; a haven.
   • 1587, Abraham Fleming, Holinshed's Chronicles:

     Being by contrarie winds driuen to staie against Erith, at Grauesend, in Tilberie hope.

   • 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:

     A little hamlet which straggled along the side of a creek formed by the discharge of a small brook into the sea […] It was called Wolf's Hope (i.e. Wolf's Haven).

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “hope”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• pheo, pheo-

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

hope

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of hopen

Maori

Noun

hope

1. waist
2. hip (ringa hope)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• hoppe

Etymology

From Old English hopa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːp(ə)/

Noun

hope (plural hopes)

1. trust, confidence; wishful desire; expectation

Descendants

• English: hope
• Yola: hopes (plural)

References

• “hōpe, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Shona

Etymology

From the root of Common Bantu *dʊ̀kópè, whence also chikope (“eyelid”).

Noun

hópé class 10

1. sleep

Spanish

Verb

hope

1. only used in me hope, first-person singular present subjunctive of hoparse
2. only used in se hope, third-person singular present subjunctive of hoparse
3. only used in se ... hope, syntactic variant of hópese, third-person singular imperative of hoparse

West Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhoːpə/

Noun

hope n (no plural)

1. Alternative form of hoop