Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various aromatic woody herbs or shrubs of the genus Ruta of the Mediterranean region and western Asia, especially the ornamental R. graveolens, having bipinnately compound leaves that yield an acrid volatile oil formerly used in medicine.
  • noun Any of various other plants having similar foliage, such as meadow rue.
  • intransitive verb To feel regret, remorse, or sorrow for.
  • intransitive verb To feel regret, remorse, or sorrow.
  • noun Sorrow; regret.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • . To cause to grieve; make repentant, compassionate, or sorrowful; afflict: often used impersonally with a personal pronoun.
  • To repent of; feel remorse for; regret; hence, to suffer in expiation of: as, to rue one's folly or mistakes.
  • To feel sorrow or suffering on account of; suffer from or by; experience loss or injury from.
  • To have or take pity on; feel sorry for; compassionate.
  • To repent of and withdraw, or try to withdraw, from: as, to rue a bargain. See rue-bargain.
  • To be sorrowful; experience grief or harm; suffer; mourn.
  • To repent; feel remorse or regret.
  • To have pity; have compassion or mercy: often followed by on or upon.
  • noun Sorrow; repentance.
  • noun Any plant of the genus Ruta, especially R. graveolens, the common or garden rue, a native of the Mediterranean region and western Asia, and elsewhere common in cultivation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To lament; to regret extremely; to grieve for or over.
  • transitive verb obsolete To cause to grieve; to afflict.
  • transitive verb Prov. Eng. To repent of, and withdraw from, as a bargain; to get released from.
  • noun obsolete Sorrow; repetance.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To have compassion.
  • intransitive verb To feel sorrow and regret; to repent.
  • noun (Bot.) A perennial suffrutescent plant (Ruta graveolens), having a strong, heavy odor and a bitter taste; herb of grace. It is used in medicine.
  • noun Fig.: Bitterness; disappointment; grief; regret.
  • noun See under Goat.
  • noun a pretty springtime flower (Thalictrum anemonides) common in the United States.
  • noun a little fern (Asplenium Ruta-muraria) common on walls in Europe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb obsolete, transitive To cause to repent of sin or regret some past action.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To cause to feel sorrow or pity.
  • verb transitive To repent of or regret (some past action or event); to wish that a past action or event had not taken place.
  • verb archaic, intransitive To feel compassion or pity.
  • noun archaic Repentance, regret.
  • noun archaic Pity, compassion.
  • noun Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens, formerly used in medicines.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

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

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin rūta, probably from Greek rhūtē.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ruen, from Old English hrēowan, to affect with grief, and hrēowian, to repent.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English hrēowan, perhaps influenced by Old Norse hryggja ("to distress, grieve"), from Germanic. Cognate with Dutch rouwen, German reuen.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English hrēow, from Proto-Germanic. Cognate with Dutch rouw, German Reue; related to Etymology 2, below.

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Examples

  • Ophelia wishes to remind the Queen of the sorrow and contrition she ought to feel for her unlawful marriage; and that she may wear her rue with peculiar propriety on Sundays, when she solicits pardon for the crime which she has so much occasion to _rue_ and repent of.

    Hamlet William Shakespeare 1590

  • Columbine was emblematical of forsaken lovers.] [Footnote IV. 27: _There's rue for you; and here's some for me: -- we may call it herb of grace o 'Sundays: _] Probably a quibble is meant here, as _rue_ anciently signified the same as

    Hamlet William Shakespeare 1590

  • A posh building in rue de Grenelle (Paris), its days recounted from two points of view, one belonging to a cultured concierge, the other to a little rich girl with suicidal tendencies.

    An Interview with Muriel Barbery by Viviana Musumeci, April 15 2008 2010

  • I can really recommend the Cremerie Polidor in rue Monsieur le Prince for an authentic bistro experience and the food is good and generous.

    What to Do in Paris / Que faire a Paris? - French Word-A-Day 2009

  • Try Stohrer in rue Montorgueil. not as good as the Real Thing, but not bad

    pasteis de nata 2007

  • I can imagine that rue is a very different place without the law students ... or maybe it isn't so much a law student hangout as it used to be.

    Archive 2005-11-01 Slimbolala 2005

  • I can imagine that rue is a very different place without the law students ... or maybe it isn't so much a law student hangout as it used to be.

    Our Town Slimbolala 2005

  • I can imagine that rue is a very different place without the law students ... or maybe it isn't so much a law student hangout as it used to be.

    This Blog Is Your Blog, Redux Slimbolala 2005

  • 10A modest laboratory was soon set up, but only at the science faculty in rue Cuvier, where Pierre taught a physics course to those preparing for the certificat d 'études.

    Trafficking Materials and Gendered Experimental Practices: Radium Research in Early 20th Century Vienna 2007

  • At No. 41 of the Avenue de Paris, at Versailles, there is a little street running north and south, called the rue du Bon Conseil.

    Archive 2009-06-01 elena maria vidal 2009

Comments

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  • folkname herb-of-grace

    Among the Strega, Italian witches, a most sacred herb, see cimaruta

    "A sprig of rue was used to sprinkle holy water during High Masses during the Medieval period."

    _Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft, Raven Grimassi

    February 11, 2008

  • Citation (in sense of herb) on onion.

    January 1, 2009

  • Usage/historical note on mandrake.

    October 9, 2017

  • The women of the village came with advice, with bunches of rue to keep off witches, and a crucifix to place under the mattress. But the prospect of witnessing the birth disgusted him.

    - Bruce Chatwin, The Viceroy of Ouidah

    September 20, 2019