Meanings
weep1
present singular third person weeps · participle present weeping · participle past wept · past wept · nonstandard participle past poetic weeped · nonstandard past poetic weeped
- To cry; to shed tears, especially when accompanied with sobbing or other difficulty speaking, as an expression of emotion such as sadness or joy.
They wept together in silence.
1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, part I - To lament; to complain.
They weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 11:13 - To give off moisture in small quantities, e.g. due to condensation.
- medicineTo produce secretions.
- To flow in drops; to run in drops.
a weeping spring, which discharges water slowly
1 more example
The blood weeps from my heart.
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]
- To hang the branches, as if in sorrow; to be pendent; to droop; said of a plant or its branches.
The willows weep and the moonbeams sleep / On the mariner's silent grave.
1893, Edward William Cole, The best song book in the world, page 314 - obsoletetransitiveTo weep over; to bewail.
Fair Venus wept the sad disaster Of having lost her favorite dove.
1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove1 more example
[…] Which weep a loss for ever new, A void where heart on heart reposed; And, where warm hands have prest and closed, Silence, till I be silent too.
1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 20
plural weeps
- A session of crying.
Sometimes you just have to have a good weep.
- A sob.
He's coming, too, and we both want to mingle our weeps over the wine-cup[.]
1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York: Doubleday & McClure, published 1899, page v. 62 - A red or reddish liquid that seeps out from raw muscular meat during storage, consisting mostly of water and protein; "meat juice".
Synonyms: purge
weep2
plural weeps
- A lapwing; wipe, especially, a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA red or reddish liquid that seeps out from raw muscular meat during storage, consisting mostly of water and protein; "meat juice".
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
weep · verb, noun
- Proto-Indo-European*weh₂b-“to call, cry, complain”
- Proto-Germanic*wōpijaną“to weep”
- Proto-West Germanic*wōpijan
- Old Englishwēpan“to weep, complain, bewail, mourn over, deplore”
- Middle Englishwepen
- Englishweep
From Middle English wepen, from Old English wēpan (“to weep, complain, bewail, mourn over, deplore”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōpijan, from Proto-Germanic *wōpijaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂b- (“to call, cry, complain”). Cognate with Scots weep (“to weep”), Saterland Frisian wapia (“to cry, complain”), Icelandic æpa (“to yell, shout”), Proto-Slavic *vъpiti (“to weep”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans huil
- huilto cry, shed tears
Ancient Greek κλαίω, δακρύω
- κλαίω (klaíō)to cry, shed tears
- δακρύω (dakrúō)to cry, shed tears
Arabic بَكَى, يَبْكِي
- بَكَى (bakā)to cry, shed tears
- يَبْكِي (yabkī)to cry, shed tears
Basque negar egin
- negar eginto cry, shed tears
Bengali কাঁদা, কান্দা
- কাঁদা (kãda)to cry, shed tears
- কান্দা (kanda)to cry, shed tears
- ক্রন্দন করা (krondon kora)to cry, shed tears
Bulgarian пла́ча
- пла́ча (pláča)to cry, shed tears
Catalan plorar
- plorarto cry, shed tears
Chinese Cantonese 喊, 哭
- 喊 (haam³)to cry, shed tears
- 哭 (huk¹)to cry, shed tears
Chinese Mandarin 哭, 抽泣
- 哭 (kū)to cry, shed tears
- 抽泣 (chōuqì)to cry, shed tears
- 泣 (qì)to cry, shed tears
- 流眼淚 /流眼泪 (liú yǎnlèi)to cry, shed tears
- 流淚 /流泪 (liúlèi)to cry, shed tears
Czech plakat, brečet
- plakatto cry, shed tears
- brečetto cry, shed tears
Danish græde
- grædeto cry, shed tears
Dutch huilen, wenen
- huilento cry, shed tears
- wenento cry, shed tears
- schreiento cry, shed tears
Esperanto larmi
- larmito cry, shed tears
Estonian nutma, nuuksuma
- nutmato cry, shed tears
- nuuksumato cry, shed tears
Finnish itkeä, kyynelehtiä
- itkeäto cry, shed tears
- kyynelehtiäto cry, shed tears
French pleurer
- pleurerto cry, shed tears
German weinen
- weinento cry, shed tears
Greek κλαίω
- κλαίω (klaío)to cry, shed tears
Hebrew בָּכָה
- בָּכָה (bachá)to cry, shed tears
Hindi रोना
- रोना (ronā)to cry, shed tears
Hungarian sír, könnyezik
- sírto cry, shed tears
- könnyezikto cry, shed tears
Icelandic gráta
- grátato cry, shed tears
Indonesian tangis, menangis
- tangisto cry, shed tears
- menangisto cry, shed tears
Irish caoin, goil
- caointo cry, shed tears
- goilto cry, shed tears
Italian piangere, versare lacrime
- piangereto cry, shed tears
- versare lacrimeto cry, shed tears
- lacrimareto cry, shed tears
Japanese 泣く, すすり泣く
- 泣く (naku)to cry, shed tears
- すすり泣く (susurinaku)to cry, shed tears
- しくしく泣く (shikushiku naku)to cry, shed tears
Korean 울다
- 울다 (ulda)to cry, shed tears
Latin fleō, lacrimō
- fleōto cry, shed tears
- lacrimōto cry, shed tears
Latvian raudāt
- raudātto cry, shed tears
Lithuanian verkti, raudoti
- verktito cry, shed tears
- raudotito cry, shed tears
Malay tangis, menangis
- tangisto cry, shed tears
- menangisto cry, shed tears
Māori wairutu, wairurutu
- wairututo cry, shed tears
- wairurututo cry, shed tears
- tangitangito cry, shed tears
- rututo cry, shed tears
- rurututo cry, shed tears
- taurereto cry, shed tears
Norwegian Bokmål gråte
- gråteto cry, shed tears
Persian گریستن, گریه کردن
- گریستن (geristan)to cry, shed tears
- گریه کردن (gerye kardan)to cry, shed tears
Polish płakać, szlochać
- płakaćto cry, shed tears
- szlochaćto cry, shed tears
Portuguese chorar, lacrimejar
- chorarto cry, shed tears
- lacrimejarto cry, shed tears
Romanian plânge, lăcrima
- plângeto cry, shed tears
- lăcrimato cry, shed tears
Russian пла́кать, рыда́ть
- пла́кать (plákatʹ)to cry, shed tears
- рыда́ть (rydátʹ)to cry, shed tears
- лить слёзы (litʹ sljózy)to cry, shed tears
Scottish Gaelic caoin, guil
- caointo cry, shed tears
- guilto cry, shed tears
Slovak plakať
- plakaťto cry, shed tears
Spanish llorar, lagrimar
- llorarto cry, shed tears
- lagrimarto cry, shed tears
- lacrimarto cry, shed tears
Swedish gråta, grina
- gråtato cry, shed tears
- grinato cry, shed tears
Tagalog lumuha, umiyak
- lumuhato cry, shed tears
- umiyakto cry, shed tears
- humagulgolto cry, shed tears
- humagulholto cry, shed tears
Tamil அழு
- அழு (aḻu)to cry, shed tears
Thai ร้องไห้, ร่ำไห้
- ร้องไห้ (rɔ́ɔng-hâai)to cry, shed tears
- ร่ำไห้ (râm-hâi)to cry, shed tears
Turkish ağlamak
- ağlamakto cry, shed tears
Ukrainian пла́кати, схли́пувати
- пла́кати (plákaty)to cry, shed tears
- схли́пувати (sxlýpuvaty)to cry, shed tears
- реві́ти (revíty)to cry, shed tears
- рида́ти (rydáty)to cry, shed tears
Urdu رونا
- رونا (ronā)to cry, shed tears
Vietnamese khóc
- khócto cry, shed tears
Yiddish וויינען
- וויינען (veynen)to cry, shed tears
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with weep
Cite this entry
weep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weep
“weep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weep. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “weep,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weep.
Source: weep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.