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rue

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "rue"

Translingual

Symbol

rue

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Carpathian Rusyn.

See also

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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 berouwen (“to regret, to repent”).

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.

Noun

rue (uncountable)

  2. (archaic or dialectal) Sorrow; repentance; regret.
    Synonyms: contrition, misery, unhappiness; see also Thesaurus:sadness, Thesaurus:remorse
  3. (archaic or dialectal) Pity; compassion.
    Synonyms: ruth, sympathy; see also Thesaurus:compassion
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English rewen, ruwen, ruen, reowen, from Old English hrēowan (“to rue; make sorry; grieve”), perhaps influenced by Old Norse hryggja (“to distress, grieve”), from Proto-Germanic *hrewwaną (“to sadden; repent”).

Verb

rue (third-person singular simple present rues, present participle ruing or rueing, simple past and past participle rued)

  1. (transitive) To repent of or regret (some past action or event); to wish that a past action or event had not taken place.
    Synonyms: afterthink, deprecate, regret, repent
    to rue the day
    I rued the day I crossed paths with her.
    • 1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:
      I wept to see, and rued it from my heart.
      The spelling has been modernized.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC:
      Thy will chose freely what it now so justly rues.
    • 2009, David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race:
      And feminization of the homeland is something to be rued, while the feminized humiliation of the enemy for the sake of the fatherland is cause for commendation and celebration.
    • 2012, Joy Fielding, Still Life:
      And was the fact she was no longer losing large chunks of time something to be celebrated or something to be rued?
    • 2014, Gary Meehan, True Fire:
      “If we get in a fight, you'll be ruing your lack of training.”
    • 2024 December 16, Libby Brooks, “Nicola Sturgeon rues descent into ‘toxic’ debate on topics such as equal marriage”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:
      Nicola Sturgeon rues descent into ‘toxic’ debate on topics such as equal marriage [title]
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to repent of sin or regret some past action.
    Synonyms: forthink, put the fear of God into, think over
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to feel sorrow or pity.
    Synonyms: deject, depress; see also Thesaurus:sadden
  5. (archaic, intransitive) To feel compassion or pity.
    Synonyms: commiserate, compassionate, feel sorry for, mercify; see also Thesaurus:pity
    • 1842, Nicholas Ridley, The Life of Nicholas Ridley
      which stirred men's hearts to rue upon them
  6. (archaic, intransitive) To feel sorrow or regret.
    Synonyms: grieve, mourn; see also Thesaurus:be sad
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English rue, from Anglo-Norman ruwe, Old French rue, from Latin rūta, from Ancient Greek ῥυτή (rhutḗ).

Noun

rue (plural rues)

  2. Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens (common rue), formerly used in medicines.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
      But th'aged Nourse, her calling to her bowre, / Had gathered Rew, and Savine, and the flowre / Of Camphora, and Calamint, and Dill [...].
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
      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.
    • 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 253:
      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[.]
Derived terms
Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

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Chuukese

Numeral

rue

  1. twenty

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French rue, developed figuratively from Latin ruga.

Noun

rue f (plural rues)

  1. street, road
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old French rue, rude, from Latin rūta, from Ancient Greek ῥυτή (rhutḗ).

Noun

rue f (plural rues)

  1. rue (the plant)

Etymology 3

From ruer.

Verb

rue

  1. inflection of ruer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Galician

Verb

rue

  1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of ruar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Kabuverdianu

Verb

rue

  1. gossip

References

  • Gonçalves, Manuel (2015), Capeverdean Creole-English dictionary, →ISBN

Latin

Verb

rue

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of ruō

Lutuv

Pronunciation

Noun

rue

  1. neck

References

  • Amanda Bohnert, Kelly Harper Berkson, Sui Hnem Par (2022), “Vowel Sounds in Hnaring Lutuv”, in Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures‎, volume 3, number 1

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman rue, from Latin rūta, from Ancient Greek ῥυτή (rhutḗ).

Pronunciation

Noun

rue

  1. A kind of plant belonging to the genus Ruta; rue.
  2. (rare) meadow-rue (plants in the genus Thalictrum)

Descendants

  • English: rue
  • Scots: rew

References

Norman

Etymology

From Old French rue, developed figuratively from Latin ruga (“wrinkle”).

Pronunciation

Noun

rue f (plural rues)

  1. (Jersey, Guernsey) road, street
    • 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎, page 520:
      I' n'y a pas de rue sàns but.
      There is no road but has an ending.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology

Compare Swedish ruva

Pronunciation

Noun

rue f (definite singular rua, indefinite plural ruer, definite plural ruene)

  1. a pile, heap
  2. a lump of manure, particularly from a cow

Synonyms

Further reading

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin rūta, from Ancient Greek ῥυτή (rhutḗ).

Noun

rue oblique singular, f (oblique plural rues, nominative singular rue, nominative plural rues)

  1. rue (plant)

Descendants

Descendants

References

Portuguese

Verb

rue

  1. inflection of ruar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Venetan

Noun

rue

  1. plural of rua

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