rue

rue · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*krows-
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hreuwu“pain, sadness, regret, repentance”
3. Old English · inherited fromhrēow“sorrow, regret, penitence, repentance, penance”
4. Middle English · inherited fromrewe
5. English todayrue

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 rouwen (“to mourn, to grieve”). 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.

rue · verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hrewwaną“to sadden; repent”
2. Old Norse · derived fromhryggja“to distress, grieve”
3. Old English · inherited fromhrēowan“to rue; make sorry; grieve”
4. Middle English · inherited fromrewen
5. English todayrue

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”).

rue · noun³

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromῥυτή
2. Latin · derived fromrūta
3. Old French · derived fromrue
4. Anglo-Norman · derived fromruwe
5. Middle English · inherited fromrue
6. English todayrue

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

Words from the same roots