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lament - 6 dictionary results

la⋅ment

  [luh-ment]
Use lament in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to feel or express sorrow or regret for: to lament his absence.
2. to mourn for or over.
–verb (used without object)
3. to feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret.
4. to mourn deeply.
–noun
5. an expression of grief or sorrow.
6. a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, esp. in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.
Origin:
1520–30; (n.) < L lāmentum plaint; (v.) < L lāmentārī, deriv. of lāmentum

Related forms:
la⋅ment⋅er, noun
la⋅ment⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1, 2. bewail, bemoan, deplore. 3, 4. grieve, weep. 5. lamentation, moan. 6. monody, threnody.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To lament
la·ment   (lə-měnt')   
v.   la·ment·ed, la·ment·ing, la·ments

v.   tr.
  1. To express grief for or about; mourn: lament a death.
  2. To regret deeply; deplore: He lamented his thoughtless acts.
v.   intr.
  1. To grieve audibly; wail.
  2. To express sorrow or regret. See Synonyms at grieve.
n.  
  1. A feeling or an expression of grief; a lamentation.
  2. A song or poem expressing deep grief or mourning.

[Middle English lementen, from Old French lamenter, from Latin lāmentārī, from lāmentum, lament.]
la·ment'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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.

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : lament
Spanish: lamentar,
German: klagen,
Japanese: 嘆く
More Translations »

lament

a nonnarrative poem expressing deep grief or sorrow over a personal loss. The form developed as part of the oral tradition along with heroic poetry and exists in most languages. Examples include Deor's Lament, an early Anglo-Saxon poem, in which a minstrel regrets his change of status in relation to his patron, and the ancient Sumerian "Lament for the Destruction of Ur." Compare complaint; elegy.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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