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rue

noun
/ɹuː/

Etymology

From Middle English rewe, reowe, from Old English hrēow (“sorrow, regret, penitence, repentance, penance”), from Proto-West Germanic *hreuwu (“pain, sadness, regret, repentance”). Cognates include German reuen (“to regret, to repent”) and Dutch rouwen (“to mourn, to grieve”). Probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krows-. If so, note the same sense evolution with in this case cognate Russian круши́ть (krušítʹ, “to destroy, to shatter”), Russian сокруша́ться (sokrušátʹsja, “to be distressed, to grieve (for, over)”). Also compare Czech truchlit from Proto-Slavic *truxlъ.

  1. derived from ῥυτή
  2. derived from rūta
  3. derived from rue
  4. derived from ruwe
  5. inherited from rue

Definitions

  1. Sorrow

    Sorrow; repentance; regret.

    • When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, / "The heart out of the bosom was never given in vain; / 'Tis paid with sighs aplenty and sold for endless rue." / And I am two-and-twenty, and oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.

  2. Pity

    Pity; compassion.

  3. To repent of or regret (some past action or event)

    To repent of or regret (some past action or event); to wish that a past action or event had not taken place.

    • to rue the day
    • I rued the day I crossed paths with her.
    • I wept to see, and rued it from my heart.
  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. To cause to repent of sin or regret some past action.

    2. To cause to feel sorrow or pity.

    3. To feel compassion or pity

      To feel compassion or pity; to take pity (on), to have compassion (on).

      • […] till our Lord's clouds rue upon the earth, and send down a watring of rain: Truly , I think Christ's misty dew a welcome message from heaven, till my Lord's rain fall : […]
      • 1842, Nicholas Ridley, The Life of Nicholas Ridley which stirred men's hearts to rue upon them
      • Rue on thy despairing lover! Canst thou break his faithfu' heart?

    4. To feel sorrow or regret.

      • Old year, we'll dearly rue for you.

    5. Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens…

      Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens (common rue), formerly used in medicines.

      • But th'aged Nourse, her calling to her bowre, / Had gathered Rew, and Savine, and the flowre / Of Camphora, and Calamint, and Dill [...].
      • 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.
      • The life of one plant would be affected by another. Rue was definitely hostile to basil, rosemary to hyssop, but coriander, dill and chervil lived on the friendliest of terms[.]

    6. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for rue. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA