Rue Meaning
/ɹuː/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounSorrow; repentance; regret.
nounPity; compassion.
Sentence Examples
I rue the day I crossed paths with this asshole.
The Rue St. Antoine is located in the extension of the Rue de Rivoli.
CEFR Practice Quiz
If you do not study for the exam, you will ____ your laziness later.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She began to ____ her hasty decision as the consequences became increasingly apparent.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English rewe, reowe, from Old English hrēow (“sorrow, regret, penitence, repentance, penance”), from Proto-West Germanic *hreuwu (“pain, sadness, regret, repentance”). Cognates include German reuen (“to regret, to repent”) and Dutch rouwen (“to mourn, to grieve”). Probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krows-. If so, note the same sense evolution with in this case cognate Russian круши́ть (krušítʹ, “to destroy, to shatter”), Russian сокруша́ться (sokrušátʹsja, “to be distressed, to grieve (for, over)”). Also compare Czech truchlit from Proto-Slavic *truxlъ.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, / "The heart out of the bosom was never given in vain; / 'Tis paid with sighs aplenty and sold for endless rue." / And I am two-and-twenty, and oh, 'tis true, 'tis true."
— 1896, A[lfred] E[dward] Housman, “[Poem] XIII”, in A Shropshire Lad, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, The Bodley Head, published 1906, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 21:
"I wept to see, and rued it from my heart."
— 1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:
"Thy will chose freely what it now so justly rues."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC:
"And feminization of the homeland is something to be rued, while the feminized humiliation of the enemy for the sake of the fatherland is cause for commendation and celebration."
— 2009, David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race:
"And was the fact she was no longer losing large chunks of time something to be celebrated or something to be rued?"
— 2012, Joy Fielding, Still Life:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
If you do not study for the exam, you will ____ your laziness later.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She began to ____ her hasty decision as the consequences became increasingly apparent.