lament

—lamenter, n. —lamentingly, adv.

/leuh ment"/, v.t.

1. to feel or express sorrow or regret for: to lament his absence.

2. to mourn for or over.

v.i.

3. to feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret.

4. to mourn deeply.

n.

5. an expression of grief or sorrow.

6. a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, esp. in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.

[1520-30; (n.) < L lamentum plaint; (v.) < L lamentari, deriv. of lamentum]

Syn. 1, 2. bewail, bemoan, deplore. 3, 4. grieve, weep. 5. lamentation, moan. 6. monody, threnody.

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▪ poetry

      a nonnarrative poem expressing deep grief or sorrow over a personal loss. The form developed as part of the oral tradition along with heroic poetry and exists in most languages. Examples include Deor's Lament (Deor), an early Anglo-Saxon poem, in which a minstrel regrets his change of status in relation to his patron, and the ancient Sumerian “Lament for the Destruction of Ur.” Compare complaint; elegy.

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