rue

pronunciation

How to pronounce rue in British English: UK [ru:] word uk audio image

How to pronounce rue in American English: US [ru] word us audio image

Noun:

European strong-scented perennial herb with gray-green bitter-tasting leaves; an irritant similar to poison ivy
leaves sometimes used for flavoring fruit or claret cup but should be used with great caution: can cause irritation like poison ivy
sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment
(French) a street or road in France
Verb:

feel remorse for; feel sorry for; be contrite about

Word Origin

rue: rue: Rue ‘regret’ [OE] and rue the plant [14] are distinct words. The former goes back to a prehistoric Germanic source, of uncertain ultimate origins, which meant ‘distress’, and which also produced German reuen and Dutch rouwen. In the early Middle English period, when it still meant ‘cause to feel pity’ (a sense which has now died out), a noun ruth ‘pity’ was formed from it, which survives in ruthless [14]. And a cognate noun rue once existed too, meaning ‘sorrow, regret’, which also lives on only in the form of a derivative: rueful [13]. The plant-name rue comes via Old French rue and Latin rūta from Greek rhūté.=> rueful, ruthless

rue (v.): "feel regret," Old English hreowan "make sorry, distress, grieve" (class II strong verb; past tense hreaw, past participle hrowen), from Proto-Germanic *khrewan (cognates: Old Frisian riowa, Middle Dutch rouwen, Old Dutch hrewan, German reuen "to sadden, cause repentance"); in part, blended with Old English weak verb hreowian "feel pain or sorrow," and perhaps influenced by Old Norse hryggja "make sad," both from Proto-Germanic *khruwjan, all from PIE root *kreue- (2) "to push, strike" (see anacrusis). Related: Rued; ruing.

rue (n.1): perennial evergreen shrub, late 14c., from Old French rue (13c.), earlier rude, from Latin ruta "rue," probably from Greek rhyte, of uncertain etymology, originally a Peloponnesian word. The bitter taste of its leaves led to many punning allusions to rue (n.2.).

rue (n.2): "sorrow, repentance," Old English hreow "grief, repentance, sorrow, regret, penitence," common Germanic (Frisian rou, Middle Dutch rou, Dutch rouw, Old High German (h)riuwa, German reue), related to the root of rue (v.).

rue (n.3): French for "street," from Vulgar Latin *ruga (source also of Old Italian ruga), properly "a furrow," then in Medieval Latin "a path, street" (see rough (adj.)).