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rue - What does it mean?

Definition of 'rue'

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) rewe, reowe, from (etyl) .

Noun

(-)
  • (archaic|or|dialectal) Sorrow; repentance; regret.
  • (archaic|or|dialectal) Pity; compassion.
  • Derived terms
    * rueful * ruth

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) , from Germanic. Cognate with Dutch rouwen, German reuen.

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To cause to repent of sin or regret some past action.
  • (obsolete) To cause to feel sorrow or pity.
  • To repent of or regret (some past action or event); to wish that a past action or event had not taken place.
  • I rued the day I crossed paths with her.
  • * (rfdate) Chapman
  • I wept to see, and rued it from my heart.
  • * (rfdate) Milton
  • Thy will chose freely what it now so justly rues .
  • (archaic) To feel compassion or pity.
  • * Late 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, Canterbury Tales
  • Madame, reweth upon my peynes smerte
  • * (rfdate) Ridley
  • which stirred men's hearts to rue upon them
  • (archaic) To feel sorrow or regret.
  • * (rfdate) Tennyson
  • Old year, we'll dearly rue for you.
    Usage notes
    Most frequently used in the collocation “rue the day”.

    Etymology 3

    (wikipedia) From (etyl) ruwe, (etyl) rue (> modern French rue), from (etyl) . Compare (rude).

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta , especially the herb , formerly used in medicines.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.2:
  • But th'aged Nourse, her calling to her bowre, / Had gathered Rew , and Savine, and the flowre / Of Camphora, and Calamint, and Dill [...].
  • * c. 1600 , (William Shakespeare), , (Ophelia):
  • There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s rue''' for you; and here’s some for me: we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your ' rue with a difference.
    Synonyms
    * garden rue * herb of grace
    Derived terms
    * goat's rue * rue anemone * Syrian rue * wall rue

    References

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    Similar to 'rue'

    re, roe, rye, ree, rie, rewe