The Collaborative International Dictionary
despond \de*spond"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Desponded; p. pr. & vb. n. Desponding.] [L. despond[=e]re, desponsum, to promise away, promise in marriage, give up, to lose (courage); de- + spond[=e]re to promise solemnly. See Sponsor.] To give up the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view.
I should despair, or at least despond.
--Scott's
Letters.
Others depress their own minds, [and] despond at the
first difficulty.
--Locke.
We wish that . . . desponding patriotism may turn its
eyes hitherward, and be assured that the foundations of
our national power still stand strong.
--D. Webster.
Syn: Despond, Dispair.
Usage: Despair implies a total loss of hope, which despond does not, at least in every case; yet despondency is often more lasting than despair, or than desperation, which impels to violent action.
Wiktionary
vb. (present participle of despond English)
Usage examples of "desponding".
The desponding troops obeyed the signal of the retreat, only seventy days after they had passed the Chaboras, with the sanguine expectation of subverting the throne of Persia.