means The feeling of wanting something good to happen and believing it actually might, even when there's no guarantee.

from From Old English 'hopa,' a noun rooted in the verb 'hopian' (to wish, expect, look forward to). It shares deep Germanic kinship with words like Dutch 'hoop' and German 'hoffen.' The ultimate source is murky — some have linked it to a root meaning 'to leap,' as if hope were a small jump toward the future — but that connection is uncertain and best treated as a pleasing maybe rather than a fact.