wellaway

American

[wel-uh-wey] / ˈwɛl əˈweɪ /

Also welladay

interjection

Archaic.

(used to express sorrow.)

wellaway British

/ ˈwɛləˈweɪ /

interjection

archaic woe! alas!

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of wellaway

before 900; Middle English we ( i ) lawei, Old English weilāwei ( wei < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse vei woe ), replacing Old English wā lā wā woe! lo! woe!

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023