lamentation

[lam-uh n-tey-shuh n]

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noun

the act of lamenting or expressing grief.

Lamentations, (used with a singular verb) a book of the Bible, traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah. Abbreviation: Lam.

Origin of lamentation

1325–75; < Latin lāmentātiōn- (stem of lāmentātiō), equivalent to lāmentāt(us) (past participle of lāmentārī; see lament) + -iōn- -ion; replacing Middle English lamentacioun < Anglo-French ≪ Latin, as above

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lamentation

gripe, sigh, sob, whine, wail, grief, cry, explosion, roar, cacophony, commotion, crash, buzz, turbulence, clamor, blast, heartache, annoyance, apology, sorrow

Examples from the Web for lamentation

Contemporary Examples of lamentation

But even as this book celebrates these women and their work, it is also a lamentation for a life on its way out.
The World Would Go to Hell Without Nuns
William O’Connor
September 4, 2014
Through the dark, cold winter, the walls on Muhammad Mahmoud erupted into huge images of celebration, lamentation, and commentary.
Ahdaf Soueif’s Cairo: Remembering A City Wracked By The Arab Spring
Ahdaf Soueif
January 26, 2014

Historical Examples of lamentation

Not contentment, but a lamentation and an ancient tale of wrong!
'Tis Sixty Years Since
Charles Francis Adams
The torment was far too racking for such futile fashion of lamentation.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Did she not break into lamentation and woe that a brother should so demean himself?
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
There shall be a sound of lamentation; lo, then we shall rest.
The Babylonian Legends of the Creation
British Museum
Her voice had dropped from anger to lamentation, and her tears again overflowed.
The Greater Inclination
Edith Wharton

British Dictionary definitions for lamentation

lamentation

noun

a lament; expression of sorrow

the act of lamenting

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

Word Origin and History for lamentation

late 14c., from Old French lamentacion and directly from Latin lamentationem (nominative lamentatio) "wailing, moaning, weeping," noun of action from past participle stem of lamentari "to wail, moan, weep, lament," from lamentum "a wailing," from PIE root *la- "to shout, cry," probably ultimately imitative. Replaced Old English cwiþan.