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Webster 1913 Edition


Rue

Rue

(rṳ)
,
Noun.
[F.
rue
, L.
ruta
, akin to Gr.
ῥυτή
; cf. AS.
rūde
.]
1.
(Bot.)
A perennial suffrutescent plant (
Ruta graveolens
), having a strong, heavy odor and a bitter taste; herb of grace. It is used in medicine.
Then purged with euphrasy and
rue

The visual nerve, for he had much to see.
Milton.
They [the exorcists] are to try the devil by holy water, incense, sulphur,
rue
, which from thence, as we suppose, came to be called herb of grace.
Jer. Taylor.
2.
Fig.: Bitterness; disappointment; grief; regret.
Goat’s rue
.
See under
Goat
.
Rue anemone
,
a pretty springtime flower (
Thalictrum anemonides
) common in the United States.
Wall rue
,
a little fern (
Asplenium Ruta-muraria
) common on walls in Europe.

Rue

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Rued
(rṳd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Ruing
.]
[OE.
rewen
,
reouwen
, to grive, make sorry, AS.
hreówan
; akin to OS.
hrewan
, D.
rouwen
, OHG.
hriuwan
, G.
reuen
, Icel.
hryggr
grieved,
hrygð
sorrow. √ 18. Cf.
Ruth
.]
1.
To lament; to regret extremely; to grieve for or over.
Chaucer.
I wept to see, and
rued
it from my heart.
Chapmen.
Thy will
Chose freely what it now so justly
rues
.
Milton.
2.
To cause to grieve; to afflict.
[Obs.]
“God wot, it rueth me.”
Chaucer.
3.
To repent of, and withdraw from, as a bargain; to get released from.
[Prov. Eng.]

Rue

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To have compassion.
[Obs.]
God so wisly [i. e., truly] on my soul
rue
.
Chaucer.
Which stirred men's hearts to
rue
upon them.
Ridley.
2.
To feel sorrow and regret; to repent.
Work by counsel and thou shalt not
rue
.
Chaucer.
Old year, we'll dearly
rue
for you.
Tennyson.

Rue

,
Noun.
[AS.
hreów
. See
Rue
,
Verb.
T.
]
Sorrow; repetance.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Rue

RUE

,
Verb.
T.
ru.
[L. rudo, to roar, to bray.]
To lament; to regret; to grieve for; as, to rue the commission of a crime; to rue the day.
Thy will chose freely what it now so justly rues.

RUE

,
Verb.
I.
To have compassion. [Not in use.]

RUE

,
Noun.
Sorrow; repentance. [Not in use.]

RUE

,
Noun.
ru.
[Gr. L.]
A plant of the genus Ruta, of several species. The common garden rue is medicinal, as a stimulant and detergent.

Definition 2024


rue

rue

See also: rué, rûe, ru'e, rue-, and

English

Noun

rue (uncountable)

  1. (archaic or dialectal) Sorrow; repentance; regret.
  2. (archaic or dialectal) Pity; compassion.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Old English hrēowan, perhaps influenced by Old Norse hryggja (to distress, grieve)[1], from Germanic. Cognate with Dutch rouwen, German reuen.

Verb

rue (third-person singular simple present rues, present participle ruing or rueing, simple past and past participle rued)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to repent of sin or regret some past action.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To cause to feel sorrow or pity.
  3. (transitive) To repent of or regret (some past action or event); to wish that a past action or event had not taken place.
    I rued the day I crossed paths with her.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Chapman
      I wept to see, and rued it from my heart.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Milton
      Thy will chose freely what it now so justly rues.
  4. (archaic, intransitive) To feel compassion or pity.
    • Late 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, Canterbury Tales
      Madame, reweth upon my peynes smerte
    • (Can we date this quote?) Ridley
      which stirred men's hearts to rue upon them
  5. (archaic, intransitive) To feel sorrow or regret.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Tennyson
      Old year, we'll dearly rue for you.
Usage notes
  • Most frequently used in the collocation “rue the day”.
Translations

Etymology 3

Rue (plant)

From Anglo-Norman ruwe, Old French rue (> modern French rue), from Latin rūta, from Ancient Greek ῥυτή (rhutḗ). Compare rude.

Noun

rue (plural rues)

  1. Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens, formerly used in medicines.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.2:
      But th'aged Nourse, her calling to her bowre, / Had gathered Rew, and Savine, and the flowre / Of Camphora, and Calamint, and Dill [...].
    • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5, Ophelia:
      There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s rue for you; and here’s some for me: we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with a difference.
Synonyms
  • garden rue
  • herb of grace
Derived terms
Translations

References

  1. rue” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Anagrams


Chuukese

Numeral

rue

  1. (cardinal) twenty

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʁy/

Etymology 1

Developed figuratively from Latin ruga (wrinkle).

Noun

rue f (plural rues)

  1. street, road

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Latin rūta, from Ancient Greek ῥυτή (rhutḗ).

Noun

rue f (plural rues)

  1. rue (the plant)

Etymology 3

From ruer

Verb

rue

  1. first-person singular present indicative of ruer
  2. third-person singular present indicative of ruer
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of ruer
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of ruer
  5. second-person singular imperative of ruer

Latin

Verb

rue

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of ruō

Norman

Etymology

Developed figuratively from Latin ruga (wrinkle).

Pronunciation

Noun

rue f (plural rues)

  1. (Jersey, Guernsey) road, street

Old French

Noun

rue f (oblique plural rues, nominative singular rue, nominative plural rues)

  1. rue (plant)

Descendants

  • English: rue (borrowed)
  • French: rue

References


Venetian

Noun

rue

  1. plural of rua