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Origin and history of lament

lament(v.)

"express sorrow, utter words or sounds of grief" (intransitive), mid-15c., lamenten, a back-formation from lamentation or else from Old French lamenter "to moan, bewail" (14c.) and directly from Latin lamentari "to wail, moan, weep, lament," from lamentum "a wailing, moaning, weeping." The transitive sense of "mourn for, deplore" is attested by 1610s. Related: Lamented; lamenter; lamenting; lamentingly.

lament(n.)

1590s, "expression of sorrow or grief," from French lament and directly from Latin lamentum "a wailing, moaning, weeping" (see lamentation). From 1690s as "a mourning song."

also from 1590s

Entries linking to lament

lamentation(n.)

"act of bewailing, expression of sorrow," late 14c., lamentacioun, from Old French lamentacion "lamentation, plaintive cry," and directly from Latin lamentationem (nominative lamentatio) "a wailing, moaning, a weeping," noun of action from past-participle stem of lamentari "to wail, moan, weep," from lamentum "a wailing."

This is reconstructed to be from an extended form of PIE root *la- "to shout, cry," which probably is imitative. De Vaan compares Sanskrit rayati "barks," Armenian lam "to weep, bewail;" Lithuanian loti, Old Church Slavonic lajati "to bark, scold;" Gothic lailoun "they scolded."

It replaced Old English cwiþan. The biblical book of Lamentations (late 14c.) is short for Lamentations of Jeremiah, the Old Testament book having as its subject the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; from Latin Lamentationes (translating Greek Threnoi), from lamentatio "a wailing, moaning, weeping."

lamented(adj.)

"mourned for," 1610, past-participle adjective from lament (v.).

unlamented(adj.)

"unwept, whose loss is not deplored," 1590s, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of lament (v.).

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    keen
    c. 1200, kene, from Old English cene "bold, brave, fearless," in later Old English "clever, prudent, wise, intelligent," common Germanic (cognate with Old Norse kænn "skillful, wise," Middle Dutch coene "bold," Dutch koen, Old High German kuon "pugnacious, strong," German kühn "b
    elegy
    in classical poetry, a verse in elegiac meter; of later works, "a mournful or plaintive poem, a poem or song expressive of sorrow and lamentation, a funeral song," 1510s, from French elegie, from Latin elegia, from Greek elegeia ode "an elegaic song," from elegeia, fem. of elegei
    dirge
    c. 1200, dirige (the contracted form is from c. 1400), "that part of the Office for the Dead beginning with the antiphon for the first psalm of the first nocturn of matins," from Latin dirige "direct!" imperative of dirigere "to direct" (see direct (v.)). The antiphon begins, Dir
    complain
    late 14c., compleinen, "lament, bewail, grieve," also "find fault, express dissatisfaction, criticize," also "make a formal...accusation or charge to an authority," from stem of Old French complaindre "to lament" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *complangere...The transitive sense of "lament" died out 17c....
    croon
    c. 1400, "to speak or sing softly," originally Scottish; compare Middle Dutch kronen "to lament, mourn," Old High German...The medieval sense evolution might be from "to lament" to "sing softly and sadly." Related: Crooned; crooning....
    complaint
    "complaint, lament," noun use of fem. past participle of complaindre "to lament" (see complain)....
    plaint
    c. 1200, pleinte, "lamentation, mourning, audible expression of sorrow," from Old French plainte "lament, lamentation" (12c....), from Latin planctus "lamentation, wailing, beating of the breast," from past-participle stem of plangere "to lament;...
    pliant
    late 14c., pliaunt, "capable of being easily bent, flexible, supple," from Old French ploiant "bending, supple; compliant, fickle," as a noun, "turncoat" (13c.), present participle of ploier "to bend," from Latin plicare "to fold, lay" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait"). Figurativ
    sorrow
    Middle English sorwe, from Old English sorg "grief, regret, trouble, care, pain, anxiety," from Proto-Germanic *sorg- (source also of Old Saxon sorga, Old Norse sorg, Middle Dutch sorghe, Dutch zorg, Old High German soraga, German sorge, Gothic saurga), perhaps from PIE *swergh-
    plain
    c. 1300, "flat, smooth," from Old French plain "flat, smooth, even" (12c.), from Latin planus "flat, even, level" (from PIE root *pele- (2) "flat; to spread"). Sense of "explicit, clear, evident" is from late 14c.; that of "free from obstruction" is mid-14c.; meaning "simple, sin

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