rue - What does it mean?
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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
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