hope
/hoʊp/verb
Want or expect something desirable to happen
From O.English hope (hope).
Lineage
Germanicnot directly attested
Selected stage
Modern English
hope — Want or expect something desirable to happen
The story
To hope is to want something to happen while believing it still might. English hope comes through Middle English hopen from Old English hopian, whose further origin is uncertain. The old verb already expressed the anticipation of a possible outcome, a meaning still heard in “I hope so” and “I hope to succeed.”