rue1
- to feel sorrow over; repent of; regret bitterly: to rue the loss of opportunities.
- to wish that (something) had never been done, taken place, etc.: I rue the day he was born.
- to feel sorrow, repentance, or regret.
- sorrow; repentance; regret.
- pity or compassion.
Origin of rue1
Examples from the Web for ruing
Historical Examples
All she there told him, ruing death for friend so young, algate sore unwilling God's rightwiseness to withsay.
UlyssesJames Joyce
And who was this inhuman being calling God's property his own, and ruing it as he would not have dared to use a beast?
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 3 of 4American Anti-Slavery Society
rue1
- to feel sorrow, remorse, or regret for (one's own wrongdoing, past events with unpleasant consequences, etc)
- archaic sorrow, pity, or regret
Word Origin
rue2
- any rutaceous plant of the genus Ruta, esp R. graveolens, an aromatic Eurasian shrub with small yellow flowers and evergreen leaves which yield an acrid volatile oil, formerly used medicinally as a narcotic and stimulantArchaic name: herb of grace Compare goat's-rue, meadow rue, wall rue
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for ruing
rue
v.
"feel regret," Old English hreowan "make sorry, distress, grieve" (class II strong verb; past tense hreaw, past participle hrowen), from Proto-Germanic *khrewanan (cf. Old Frisian riowa, Middle Dutch rouwen, Old Dutch hrewan, German reuen "to sadden, cause repentance"); in part, blended with Old English weak verb hreowian "feel pain or sorrow," and perhaps influenced by Old Norse hryggja "make sad," both from Proto-Germanic *khruwjanan, all from PIE root *kreue- (2) "to push, strike" (see anacrusis). Related: Rued; ruing.
rue
n.1
perennial evergreen shrub, late 14c., from Old French rue (13c.), earlier rude, from Latin ruta "rue," probably from Greek rhyte, of uncertain etymology, originally a Peloponnesian word. The bitter taste of its leaves led to many punning allusions to rue (n.2.).
rue
n.2
"sorrow, repentance," Old English hreow "grief, repentance, sorrow, regret, penitence," common Germanic (cf. Frisian rou, Middle Dutch rou, Dutch rouw, Old High German (h)riuwa, German reue), related to the root of rue (v.).
rue
n.3
French for "street," from Vulgar Latin *ruga (cf. Old Italian ruga), properly "a furrow," then in Medieval Latin "a path, street" (see rough (adj.)).