sorrowful

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*surgafullaz“full of care; anxious”
2. Old English · inherited fromsorhful
3. Middle English · inherited fromsorweful
4. English todaysorrowful

From Middle English sorweful, from Old English sorhful, sorgful (“full of care; anxious; sorrowful”), from Proto-Germanic *surgafullaz (“full of care; anxious”), equivalent to sorrow + -ful. Cognate with Old High German sorgfol (“careful; anxious”), Norwegian sorgfull (“sorrowful”), Icelandic sorgfullur (“lamentable”).