forlorn hope

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kouHp-nó-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*haupaz“a crowd, throng; a heap, pile”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*per-“before, in front; first”
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fraleusaną“to cease to have, lose”
5. Dutch · derived fromverloren hoop
6. English todayforlorn hope

Sense 1 (“troop of soldiers picked to make an advance attack, or the first attack”) is a mistranslation of Dutch verloren hoop (literally “lost troop”): verloren (“lost”, adjective) + hoop (“(obsolete) unit of soldiers, contingent; heap, pile, stack”), mistaking the latter word for the homograph hoop (“hope”). Verloren is the past participle of verliezen (“to lose (possession); to be defeated, to lose (a game)”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną (“to cease to have, lose”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, in front; first”) + *lewH- (“to cut, sever; to separate; to loosen; to lose”)), while hoop is ultimately from Proto-Germanic *haupaz (“a crowd, throng; a heap, pile”), from Proto-Indo-European *kouHp-nó- or *keHup-. Sense 2 (“dangerous or hopeless venture”) is either an extension of the meaning of sense 1, or from the literal meaning of the words forlorn and hope.

Words from the same roots