woe

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Woleaian.

Symbol

woe

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

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Woleaian terms

English

Etymology

From Middle English wo, wei, wa, from Old English wā, wǣ, from Proto-West Germanic *wai, from Proto-Germanic *wai (interjection), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (interjection).

See also Dutch wee, German Weh, weh, Danish ve, Yiddish וויי (vey); also Latin vae, Albanian vaj, French ouais, Ancient Greek οὐαί (ouaí), Persian وای (vây) (Turkish vay, a Persian borrowing), Proto-Slavic *uvy (whence Russian увы́ (uvý)), and Armenian վայ (vay).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wəʊ/
• (General American) enPR: wō, IPA^(key): /woʊ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophone: whoa (wine–whine merger)

Noun

woe (countable and uncountable, plural woes)

1. Great sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.

   Synonyms: grief, sorrow, misery; see also Thesaurus:sadness, Thesaurus:woe

   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, / Sad instrument of all our woe, she took.

   • 1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC:

     Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose / That well-known name awakens all my woes.

   • 1808, [Hannah More], chapter VI, in Cœlebs in Search of a Wife. […], volume I, London: […] [Strahan and Preston] for T[homas] Cadell and W[illiam] Davies, […], →OCLC, pages 68–69:

     But if there was a competition between a ſick family and a new broach, the broach was ſure to carry the day. This would not have been the caſe, had they been habituated to viſit themſelves the abodes of penury and woe.

   • October 14 2017, Sandeep Moudgal, The Times of India, Rains devastate families, political parties make beeline to apply balm on open wounds:

     The Friday night rains which wrecked families in Kurabarahalli saw all the three major political parties making a beeline to express their condolences, listen to their woes and provide compensation in the hope of garnering their goodwill ahead of the 2018 assembly elections.

2. Calamity, trouble.

   Synonyms: adversity; see also Thesaurus:disaster

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 8:13:

     And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

   • 1980, Chaka Khan, “Nothing's Gonna Take You Away”, in Naughty (Chaka Khan album):

     Don't let the little woes of life harm you / Let the joy in the life you lead / Let it charm you / Let it charm you now

3. A curse; a malediction.
   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

     Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?

Derived terms

• for weal or woe
• in weal and woe
• tale of woe
• woebegone
• woe betide
• woeful
• woe is me, woe is I
• woe to

Translations

grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity — see also distress,‎ difficulty,‎ tribulation

Arabic: حَزَن (ḥazan) Aramaic: Classical Syriac: ܘܵܝܵܐ (wāya) Bulgarian: беда (bg) f (beda), злочестие n (zločestie), скръб (bg) f (skrǎb) Chinese: Mandarin: 悲痛 (zh) (bēitòng), 悲慟 / 悲恸 (zh) (bēitòng), 悲恸 (zh) (bēitòng) Cornish: gew m Czech: trápení (cs) n, strast (cs) f, běda (cs) f, hoře (cs) n Dutch: droefheid (nl), lijden (nl), ellende (nl), ongeluk (nl) Egyptian: (jꜥnw) Finnish: suru (fi), tuska (fi) French: tristesse (fr) f, douleur (fr) f, misère (fr) f, malheur (fr) m Galician: aflición (gl) f, mágoa (gl) f, infelicidade (gl) f German: Weh (de) n, Jammer (de) m, Kummer (de) m, Leid (de) n Greek: θλίψη (el) f (thlípsi), συμφορά (el) f (symforá) Hebrew: אבוי (he) (avoy), צער (he) m (tsa'ar), יגון (he) m (yagon) Italian: dolore (it) m, disgrazia (it) f, guaio (it) m Latin: dolor (la), luctus Low German: German Low German: Weh n Maori: aitu Norwegian: sorg (no) m Occitan: dolor (oc) f, patiment (oc) m, patiràs m Polish: nieszczęście (pl) n, żałość (pl) f, cierpienie (pl) n, niedola (pl) f Portuguese: desgraça (pt) f, infelicidade (pt) f, mágoa (pt) f Romanian: durere (ro) f, suferință (ro) f, mâhnire (ro) f, nenorocire (ro) f Russian: печа́ль (ru) f (pečálʹ), грусть (ru) f (grustʹ), го́ре (ru) (góre) Scottish Gaelic: dòlas m, truaighe f, sgad m Spanish: pena (es) f, infortunio (es) m, ay (es) m, congoja (es) f, mal (es) m Swedish: sorg (sv), ve (sv) Turkish: üzüntü (tr), sıkıntı (tr), kaygı (tr), ur (tr) dert (tr), gam (tr), keder (tr), teessür (tr), Vietnamese: khốn (vi) Woiwurrung: (please verify) woo

Adjective

woe (comparative more woe, superlative most woe)

1. (obsolete) Woeful; sorrowful

   Synonyms: miserable; see also Thesaurus:sad

   • 1303, Robert of Brunne, Handlyng synne:

     hys clerk was wo to do þat dede

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 53:

     And looking vp, when as his shield he lakt, / And sword saw not, he wexed wondrous woe

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 17:

     Prospero: I am woe for't, Sir.

Interjection

woe

1. (archaic) An exclamation of grief.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 2:

     Miranda: O woe, the day.

Translations

exclamation of grief

Arabic: وَيْل (wayl) Aramaic: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: וַי (way) Chinese: Mandarin: 唉 (zh) (āi) Cornish: go Czech: běda (cs) Esperanto: ve (eo) Finnish: voi (fi) French: hélas (fr) Gagauz: yazık Galician: ai (gl) German: weh (de) Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌹 (wai) Greek: ουαί (el) (ouaí), φευ (el) (fef) Ancient: οὐαί (ouaí), φεῦ (pheû) Hebrew: אוֹי (he) (oy), אֲהָהּ (he) (aháh) (Biblical), וַי (he) (vay) (Talmudic) Japanese: ああ (ja) (ā), あたら (ja) (atara) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: وەی (ckb) (wey) Latin: vae, heu, ēheu (la) Old English: wæ Persian: وای (fa) (vây) Polish: biada (pl) Punjabi: Gurmukhi: ਹਾਏ (hāē) Shahmukhi: ہائے (hā'ē) Romanian: vai (ro) Russian: го́ре (ru) (góre) Spanish: ay (es) Sranan Tongo: eru Turkish: yazık (tr) Urdu: ہائے (hā'yē)

Anagrams

• owe

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvoɛ]

Interjection

woe

1. (informal) abbreviation of vole (man, dude)
2. ellipsis of ty vole

Limburgish

Alternative forms

• wu, wuë (Eupen)
• wooe (Krefeld)
• boe (Maastrichtian)
• wo

Adverb

woe

1. where

   Woe is Sjeng? ― Where is Sjeng?

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wuo, from Proto-Germanic *hwō.

Adverb

woe

1. (eastern) alternative form of hoe

Middle English

Pronoun

woe

1. (Herebert) alternative form of we (“we”)