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Where does the word "forlorn hope" come from? It comes from Dutch verloren hoop, and was adopted directly into English (1570s).
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Where does the word "forlorn hope" come from? It comes from Dutch verloren hoop, and was adopted directly into English (1570s).
Forlorn hope’s story begins in Dutch: verloren hoop meant “lost troop.” 'lost troop', hoop meaning a band or heap: the advance party of soldiers sent first into a breach, expected to die. It reached English by 1570s as forlorn hope. English soldiers in the Dutch wars heard hoop as 'hope'; Wellington's storming parties at Badajoz in 1812 were still called the forlorn hope. Today, forlorn hope means a desperate or hopeless undertaking.
- Stage 1 · Dutch · 1500s verloren hoop "lost troop", 'lost troop', hoop meaning a band or heap: the advance party of soldiers sent first into a breach, expected to die.
- Stage 2 · English · 1570s forlorn hope "suicidal vanguard; faint hope", English soldiers in the Dutch wars heard hoop as 'hope'; Wellington's storming parties at Badajoz in 1812 were still called the forlorn hope.