Adjacent Words

Lament definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LAMENT', v.i. [L. lamentor.]
1. To mourn; to grieve; to weep or wail; to express sorrow.
Jeremiah lamented for Josiah. 2 Chronicles 35.
2. To regret deeply; to feel sorrow.
LAMENT', v.t. To bewail; to mourn for; to bemoan; to deplore.
One laughed at follies, one lamented crimes.
LAMENT', n. [L. lamentum.] Grief or sorrow expressed in complaints or cries; lamentation; a weeping.
Torment, and loud lament, and furious rage.
[This noun is used chiefly or solely in poetry.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a cry of sorrow and grief; "their pitiful laments could be heard throughout the ward" [syn: lament, lamentation, plaint, wail]
2: a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person [syn: dirge, coronach, lament, requiem, threnody]
3: a mournful poem; a lament for the dead [syn: elegy, lament] v
1: express grief verbally; "we lamented the death of the child" [syn: lament, keen]
2: regret strongly; "I deplore this hostile action"; "we lamented the loss of benefits" [syn: deplore, lament, bewail, bemoan]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English lementen, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French lamenter, from Latin lamentari, from lamentum, noun, lament Date: 15th century intransitive verb to mourn aloud ; wail transitive verb 1. to express sorrow, mourning, or regret for often demonstratively ; mourn 2. to regret strongly Synonyms: see deplore II. noun Date: 1591 1. a crying out in grief ; wailing 2. dirge, elegy 3. complaint

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a passionate expression of grief. 2 a song or poem of mourning or sorrow. --v.tr. (also absol.) 1 express or feel grief for or about; regret (lamented the loss of his ticket). 2 (as lamented adj.) a conventional expression referring to a recently dead person (your late lamented father). Phrases and idioms: lament for (or over) mourn or regret. Derivatives: lamenter n. lamentingly adv. Etymology: L lamentum

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lament La*ment", v. i. [F. lamenter, L. lamentari, fr. lamentum a lament.] To express or feel sorrow; to weep or wail; to mourn. Jeremiah lamented for Josiah. --2 Chron. xxxv. 25. Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. --John xvi. 20.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lament La*ment", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lamented; p. pr. & vb. n. Lamenting.] To mourn for; to bemoan; to bewail. One laughed at follies, one lamented crimes. --Dryden. Syn: To deplore; mourn; bewail. See Deplore.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lament La*ment", n. [L. lamentum. Cf. Lament, v.] 1. Grief or sorrow expressed in complaints or cries; lamentation; a wailing; a moaning; a weeping. Torment, and loud lament, and furious rage. --Milton. 2. An elegy or mournful ballad, or the like.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(laments, lamenting, lamented) 1. If you lament something, you express your sadness, regret, or disappointment about it. (mainly FORMAL or WRITTEN) Ken began to lament the death of his only son... He laments that people in Villa El Salvador are suspicious of the police... 'Prices are down 40 per cent since Christmas,' he lamented. VERB: V n, V that, V with quote, also V 2. Someone's lament is an expression of their sadness, regret, or disappointment about something. (mainly FORMAL or WRITTEN) She spoke of the professional woman's lament that a woman's judgment is questioned more than a man's. N-COUNT: oft with poss 3. A lament is a poem, song, or piece of music which expresses sorrow that someone has died. N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

la-ment'.

See MUSIC.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Mourn, grieve, weep, sorrow, wail, moan, complain. II. v. a. 1. Bewail, deplore, bemoan, mourn, sorrow over or for. 2. Regret, deplore. III. n. 1. Wailing, moaning, moan, lamentation, plaint, complaint. 2. Dirge, elegy, epicedium, mournful song, funeral song.

Moby Thesaurus

bawl, bemoan, bewail, coronach, cry, deplore, dirge, discomfort, dismay, distress, dolorous tirade, elegize, elegy, epicedium, give sorrow words, grieve, grieve for, grieve over, groan, howl, jeremiad, keen, knell, lamentation, moan, moaning, monody, mourn, mourning, murmur, mutter, outcry, pain, plaint, planctus, repine, scream, sigh, sing the blues, sob, sorrow, threnody, tirade, ululation, wail, wail of woe, weep, weep over, whimper, whine, yawp, yowl