lament

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To express great sadness or regret about something.

   Many people lament the loss of the old town centre.

2. 2
   noun

   An expression of grief or deep sadness.

   Her letter was a long lament about how lonely she felt.

3. 3
   noun

   A song or poem expressing sorrow, especially for someone who has died.

   The singer performed a haunting lament for the dead.

A back-formation from lamentation or else from Middle French lamenter and its etymon Latin lāmentor (“to wail, weep”), from lāmentum (“wailing, moaning, weeping”); with formative -mentum, from the root *la-, probably ultimately imitative. Also see latrare.

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