remorse

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A deep feeling of guilt and regret for something wrong you have done.

   He felt deep remorse for the pain he had caused his family.

2. 2
   verb

   To feel deep regret or guilt for something.

   She remorsed bitterly over the harsh words she had spoken.

Simplified etymology

Remorse goes back to Latin remordere, “to annoy or trouble,” formed from an intensifying re- and mordere, “to bite.” The underlying image is of guilt or regret biting or eating away at someone; Middle English even rendered it literally as again-bite in the title Agenbite of Inwyt, “Remorse of Conscience.”

First attested circa 14th century as Middle English remors, from Old French remors, from Medieval Latin remorsus, from Latin remordeō (“to torment, vex”, literally “to bite back”), from re- + mordeō (“to bite”). More at remord.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary