woeint.adv.n.adj.

Brit.

/wəʊ/, U.S.

/woʊ/

Forms: 1.

α. Old English uua, Old English (Northumbrian)–early Middle English (south-west midlands) wæ, Old English–Middle English wa, Old English (Middle English chiefly northern) waa, early Middle English þa (transmission error), early Middle English va, Middle English we, Middle English wee, Middle English whe, 1500s (archaic) 1800s (Manx English) wae; English regional (northern) 1700s–1800s wa, 1700s–1800s wae, 1700s–1800s weea, 1800s waa, 1800s weah, 1800s wee, 1800s weha; Scottish pre-1700 ua, pre-1700 va, pre-1700 waav, pre-1700 wast (as adjective, superlative), pre-1700 waw, pre-1700 1700s–1800s wa, pre-1700 1700s–1800s wea, pre-1700 1700s– wae, 1900s we (Shetland).

β. Old English weg (in compounds), late Old English (in compounds)–Middle English wei, early Middle English waȝȝ ( Ormulum), early Middle English wai, early Middle English wæi (south-west midlands, in compounds), Middle English wey, Middle English weye, Middle English–1500s way; English regional (northern) 1600s 1800s weay, 1800s way; Scottish pre-1700 vay, pre-1700 way, 1800s–1900s wai, 1900s– wey (Shetland).

γ. early Middle English wao (south-west midlands), early Middle English wuo, Middle English mo (transmission error), Middle English vo, Middle English who, Middle English woa, Middle English wooe, Middle English–1500s whoo, Middle English–1500s woo, Middle English– wo (archaic and poetic in later use), Middle English– woe, 1600s whoe; also Scottish pre-1700 uo, pre-1700 vo, pre-1700 voo, pre-1700 woo, pre-1700 wow.

2. Combined (occasionally in contracted form) with a following word. a. With me. early Middle English womme, early Middle English wume, early Middle English wumme. b. With is. 1500s–1600s woes, 1500s– woe's; English regional (northern) 1500s–1600s waies, 1700s wae's, 1700s weas, 1800s waes, 1800s weeas, 1800s wees; Scottish pre-1700 waies, pre-1700 wais, pre-1700 waiss, pre-1700 wayes, pre-1700 wayis, pre-1700 ways, pre-1700 wois, pre-1700 wys, pre-1700 1700s–1800s waes, 1700s– wae's, 1900s– weys. See also wannowe int., wasteheart int.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch wee (Dutch wee), Old Saxon wē (Middle Low German wē), Old High German wē (Middle High German wē, German weh, also wehe), Old Icelandic vei (also væ), Old Swedish, Swedish ve, Old Danish we, ve (Danish ve), Gothic wai < a Germanic base cognate with or formed similarly to classical Latin vae, Early Irish fae, fé, Welsh gwae, Lithuanian vai, Albanian vaj, and (with later alteration) Avestan avōi, vayōi. (Ancient Greek ὀᾶ, Hellenistic Greek οὐά, οὐᾶ, οὐαί, and Armenian vay apparently represent new formations.) The Germanic base is also the source of the following exclamations in Romance languages: Old French and Anglo-Norman guai, wai (c1000), Catalan guai (13th cent.), Spanish guay (13th cent.), Italian guai (c1224). A common Indo-European interjection, used as a natural exclamation of lament, ultimately of imitative origin, and probably independently re-formed at different times. Similar expressions of grief or distress are attested in several non-Indo-European languages.Use as adverb, noun, and adjective. Use of the interjection adverbially with the dative, both in prophetic or denunciatory utterances and in declarative statements of distress or affliction (compare sense B.), has many parallels in Indo-European languages, and is clearly a syntactic construction of great antiquity; compare classical Latin vae tibi sit ‘may woe befall you’, vae victīs ‘woe to the vanquished’, etc., and see further J. Barðdal et al. in Jrnl. Indo-European Stud. 41 (2013) 321–77. Use as noun (which probably arose through such constructions as that in Phrases 1) is common in Germanic, in which a morphologically distinct noun form is also attested (in contrast to the forms cited above, which belong primarily to the interjection and adverb) derived from a reduplicated form of the same base, compare Old English wēa (weak masculine), also the doublet form wāwa wowe n., Old Dutch wēwa (Middle Dutch wēwe ), Middle Low German wēwe , Old High German wēwo (masculine), wēwa (feminine) (Middle High German wē (genitive wēwes ), strong neuter, wēwe , weak masculine, strong and weak feminine); the reduplicated Germanic base was apparently also borrowed into Finnish as vaiva trouble, pain, affliction. Otherwise, the original interjectional forms are used as nouns. For the development of use as adjective (also paralleled in Dutch and German) see note at sense D. Use in compounds. Old English wēa (noun) is a frequent element in compounds in the sense ‘that which is grievous, evil, or bad’, as wēa-cwānian to lament, wail (compare quain v.¹), wēadǣd evil deed (compare deed n.), wēamōd ill-humoured, angry (see wemod adj.), wēaspell evil tidings (compare spell n.¹), wēaþearf grievous need (compare tharf n.), etc.; compare also early Middle English weasiþ (also weisið ) affliction, trouble, misery (compare sithe n.¹). Compounding (of the interjectional forms) is also attested in other Germanic languages, e.g. Old High German wēwurt evil fate, misfortune (compare weird n.), Old Icelandic veill ailing, wretched ( < *ve-heill ; compare hail adj.), Gothic waidēdja evildoer ( < *waidēþs ; compare Old English wēadǣd above, and to do (a person) woe at Phrases 1), etc. Partially disguised compounds and derivatives are wellaway int., wail v., wone v. Notes on forms. The γ. forms show regular rounding of early Middle English ā to long open ō in southern and midland varieties, ultimately giving rise to the modern standard form woe; forms such as wooe, whoo, woo show further raising of Middle English open ō to close ō as a result of the influence of preceding w (compare forms of woad n.¹). In northern Middle English and Older Scots, forms with ā (and its reflexes) are continued (see α. forms and compare modern Scots wae ). Middle English (chiefly south-west midland) forms of the noun such as wæ, we at α. forms probably reflect Old English wēa (noun). With the Middle English forms we, whe at α. forms (as interjection) compare we int. The Old English forms weg, (late) wei at β. forms are attested only in combination with another interjection (compare weila int., and β. forms at wellaway int. and n.) and originally probably represent an expressive alteration of wā (compare Old English egele , eglā , eglāeg , alterations of ēalā : see a int.¹). Later β. forms (in Middle English) probably partly continue the Old English forms and partly reflect early Scandinavian borrowing (compare Old Icelandic vei ); some northern Middle English and Older Scots β. forms probably show reverse spellings of α. forms (after the merger of ā and ai).

A. int.

1. Used to express grief, pity, regret, disappointment, or concern. Often reduplicated, or in combination with another interjection, as ah or lo (see wale int., wellaway int.); cf. waesucks int. Now archaic.In quot. eOE at α. in combination with a form of Old English ēa (see a int.¹).In β. forms recorded earliest in wellaway int. 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > cry of grief > [interjection] > specific cry of grief

woeeOE

wellawayeOE

weilac1000

wellawayOE

wellaOE

woe is meOE

wummec1175

wia1200

outa1225

alas?c1225

walec1275

ac1300

whilec1402

ochonea1425

wellesay?1440

wannowec1450

helas1484

ah1509

ocha1522

ah me!a1547

wougha1556

eh1569

welladay1570

how1575

wellanear1581

ay me!1591

lasa1593

wella, welladay1601

good lack!1638

oime1660

pillaloo1663

wellanearing1683

lack-a-day1695

wasteheart1695

walya1724

lackadaisy1748

ochree1748

waesucks1773

well-a-winsa1774

ullagone1819

wirra1825

mavrone1827

wirrasthru1827

ototoi1877

wurra1898

α.

eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 8/1 Ua, euwa.

c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 189 (MED) Þe childer of Iral cridyn ‘wa wa’.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 764 At hir he speryt giff scho forthocht it sar. ‘Wa, ȝa!’ scho said.

c1535 M. Nisbet New Test. in Scots (1901) I. 7 Christ cryis wa our the Phariseis, scribis and ypocritis.

1602 ( D. Lindsay Satyre (Charteris) sig. D2 Out of Scotland wa alace, I haif bene fleimit lang tyme space.

1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 2nd Bk. Wks. vi. 33 Haw, my thropple, the bean of my cragg is bruck: haw, for gauads seck..Mawster; waw, waw, waw.

β. eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xxiv. 491 Weilawei [lOE Bodl. wilawei], hwæt Orpheus ða lædde his wif mid him.c1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 52 Wai hwi noldestu er of þisse beon icnowe?c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6446 Awey [a1400 Trin. Cambr. awai] seli ȝonge þinges, frendles were hii þere.c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 188 Awei to sone he hit forles.a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. 15879 Cried he neyþer wo ne way, But ded he was, & þer he lay.γ. c1350 Ayenbite (1866) App. 265 Wo hy gredeþ.?1387 T. Wimbledon Serm. (Corpus Cambr.) (1967) 126 Wo, wo, wo, how grete beþ þes derkenessis.a1450 Lessons of Dirige (Digby) l. 366 in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 119 (MED) Allas, oure synnes..say, ‘wo, wo, wo!’1566 J. Pits Poore Mannes Beneuolence sig. B.j Then is he lyke to fall on pricke, which wyll make him crie wo.1619 A. D. B. Court of Iames, I 52 Oh woe! oh shame; alas,..what tongue is able to expresse, how..greiuous it is?1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe v. 76 Ah wo, wo, wo! the worst of woes I find!1729 G. Adams tr. Sophocles Antigone v. iv, in tr. Sophocles Trag. II. 72 Wo! and wo! Again, thou hast ruined an unhappy Man.1805 R. Southey Madoc ii. xxvi. 419 Again the ominous warner cried, Woe! woe! the Cycle of the Years is full!1854 C. Patmore Betrothal in Angel in House 126 And if, ah woe, she loves alone.1921 Forum Sept. 259 ‘Woe, oh, woe!’ was his sad refrain.2003 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 11 Dec. t46 Woe and alas and cue the rending of hair and gnashing of teeth!

2. With following clause or phrase expressing the object of the lament. Now archaic and literary.

ΚΠ

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 21 O, seið þus þe boc, wei þet he eure hit wule iþenche in his þonke.

a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Wa þet ic am swa fremede wiþ þe.

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 120 Wai [a1300 Jesus Oxf. way] þat hi nis þar of bireued.

c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 3996 Wei þat ich nadde bi war.

a1425 in Poems L. Minot (1914) App. ii. 104 We for his Ending!

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 81 (MED) ‘Who, sonnis, lifers,’ seiþ þe Lord, ‘þat ȝe schuld mak a counseil and not of me.’

a1555 J. Bradford in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 297 Then shall they crye woe, woe, that euer they dyd as they haue done.

1641 J. Andrewes Golden Trumpet iv. sig. B3^v Woe, woe, that euer we were borne.

a1720 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers (1722) vi. 336 Wo that ever I was Father to such wicked Children.

1829 T. K. Hervey Poet. Sketch-bk. 137 Oh, woe! that such a withering word, From lips so dear, should e'er be heard!

1918 W. Irwin Hamadryads (new ed.) in P. Garnett Grove Plays Bohemian Club I. 61 Ah, woe that he should fall.

2008 R. Earle Nights in Pink Motel xxxvi. 220 Woe, woe, that she should have said such a thing.

B. adv. With a dative (or, later, with to, noun, or objective pronoun as complement), with or without a verb of being or happening, in sentences expressing the occurrence of distress, misfortune, or grief. Now archaic.Arising as an adverbial use of the interjection (see sense A.) with the dative, although in later use probably often interpreted as a noun (cf. e.g. quots. 1938 at sense B. 1, 2010 at sense B. 3a). Now only in fossilized use (in e.g. woe is me at Phrases 2) and archaic use.

1. In prophetic or denunciatory utterances of the type of Old English wā biþ þǣm mannum ‘affliction or grief shall be the lot of the men’ (cf. quot. OE²); woe be to us ‘may distress or misfortune afflict us’; woe is him ‘cursed is he’.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > affliction or distress [interjection]

woeOE

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [noun] > state or condition of

drearinessa1000

woeOE

sorrinessOE

sorrowfulnessa1250

heavinessc1275

sorrownessc1300

dreariheada1325

moanc1390

sadnessc1400

grievedness1571

ruthfulness1596

mournfulness1633

waila1682

drearihood1817

woebegoneness1841

tristfulness1847

the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene > imprecations

woeOE

dahetc1290

confoundc1330

foul (also shame) fall ——c1330

sorrow on——c1330

in the wanianda1352

wildfirea1375

evil theedomc1386

a pestilence on (also upon)c1390

woe betide you (also him, her, etc.)c1390

maldathaita1400

murrainc1400

out ona1415

in the wild waning worldc1485

vengeance?a1500

in a wanion1549

with a wanion1549

woe worth1553

a plague on——a1566

with a wanion to?c1570

with a wanyand1570

bot1584

maugre1590

poxa1592

death1593

rot1594

rot on1595

cancro1597

pax1604

pize on (also upon)1605

vild1605

peascod1606

cargo1607

confusion1608

perditiona1616

(a) pest upon1632

deuce1651

stap my vitals1697

strike me blind, dumb, lucky (if, but—)1697

stop my vitals1699

split me (or my windpipe)1700

rabbit1701

consume1756

capot me!1760

nick me!1760

weary set1788

rats1816

bad cess to1859

curse1885

hanged1887

buggeration1964

OE Beowulf (2008) 183 Wa bið þæm ðe sceal þurh sliðne nið sawle bescufan in fyres fæþm.

OE Blickling Homilies 61 Wa biþ þonne þæm mannum þe ne ongytaþ þisse worlde yrmþa, þe hie to gesceapene beoþ.

c1175 ( Homily in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 132 (MED) Wa byð weorldscry[f]tum [OE Vercelli wa is woruldesciriftum] buton heo mid rihte ræden & tæcæn.

a1350 (a1250) Harrowing of Hell (Harl.) (1907) 102 Wo ys him þat þe knowe ne shal!

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1659 Sche seide: ‘Ha treson, wo thee be’.

a1425 (?c1300) Northern Passion (Cambr. Gg.5.31) 249 Who be þat man At þat treson fyrst began.

c1475 (?c1451) Bk. Noblesse (Royal) (1860) 41 Heh allas!..and woo be the tyme they saide, that ever we shulde put..trust to the Frenshe partie.

a1533 J. Frith Mirroure (?1536) ii. sig. A vii Woo be to them that couple and knytte houses to gether.

1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xvi. sig. H.iv^v Bacon is good for carters and plowmen,..but & yf they haue the stone..they shall synge wo be the pye.

1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 187 Way is the Hirdis of Israell That feidis nocht Christis flock.

1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. I1 Woe were vs, if wee were at the rule and gouernement of creatures.

1636 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo: Contemplatio Mortis (rev. ed.) 162 Woe is him whose bed is made in hell.

1680 in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 45 246 Woes us that we can nether shew nor receive kindness without danger.

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. liii. 322 Woe be to the villain, if he recollect not this!

1781 J. Tucker Treat. Civil Govt. ii. ii.150 Woe be to the Country, which happens to be cursed with a successive Race of Heroes.

a1863 F. W. Faber Hymns (1894) Thou are welcome, thrice welcome:—yet woe is the day!

1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley I. xi. 151 But woe is him, if a nasty foe..smite him to the quick.

1938 Rotarian July 2/2 But woe be to us as adults if we continue to preach the old ‘emotional pap’.

2000 M. J. Chandler et al. in L. P. Nucci et al. Culture, Thought, & Devel. iv. 65 If your cultural practices have been criminalized..then woe be on you and your chances of declaring your personal existence as having any worthwhile or enduring meaning.

2. In merely declarative statements of the type of Old English him bið (or is) wā ‘he will be (or is) distressed, afflicted, or sorrowful’; Middle English him is (full) wo ‘he is (greatly) distressed or sorrowful’. Now only in woe is me at Phrases 2; see also sense D. 1c.In quot. eOE with the source of distress in the genitive.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > [adverb] > suffering mental pain

woeeOE

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iii. vii. 63 Þæm folce wæs ægþres waa, ge þæt hie þæt mæste yfel forberan sceoldon, ge eac þæt hie his sciran ne dorstan.

lOE Distichs of Cato (Trin. Cambr.) xxxix, in Anglia (1972) 90 10 Ne wurðe þe næfre to þys wa, þæt ðu þe ne wene betran, forþon þe se wena þe ne forlæt næfre forweorðan.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11904 Himm wass waȝȝ. & ange. Off þatt he nohht ne wisste off crist.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 76 Me is wa þet þu hit wast.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 832 Swa swiðe wa [c1300 Otho wo] him was þat al his wit he for-læs.

c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 209 Him was ful wo þan on is þoȝt & ofte sekede amonge.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3749 Me es sua waa, almast i weede.

c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 2684 (MED) Be all þe welthe of þe werlde, so woo was þem neuer!

?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 816 Cuthbert sawe, him was full wa.

?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 518 (MED) Mayster, ryght woo me is Þat ye þis harme hawe hadde.

3. Without verb, with the sense ‘woe be on’ or ‘woe betide’ a person or thing.

a. With dative (or later, with to, †unto, or noun or objective pronoun as complement).In quot. eOE with the source of distress in the genitive.

ΚΠ

eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xlix. 379 Waa me ðæs ic swigode!

OE Blickling Homilies 25 Wa eow þe nu hlihaþ, forþon ge eft wepað on ecnesse.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xviii. 7 Wa þysum middangearde þurh swicdomas.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 19 Wa hem ðatt hie æure iscapene waren.

c1275 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 184 (MED) Al so seide bede: ‘Wo þere þeode.’

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. viii. 13 I..herde the voys of an egle..seiynge..Wo! wo! wo! to the dwellinge men in erthe.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 6752 (MED) Wo the while, he was a thief!

c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 139 Woo to vs ȝif we wole folewe hym that wolde sette his fete in the hille of lordschippe.

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 55 (MED) Woo to me for I haue be stille, for I am a man pollutid in lippis.

?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 855 in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 84 Woo the whyle that bargayn I dyd euer make!

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Cor. ix. B And wo vnto me [1611 woe is vnto me], yff I preach not the Gospell.

1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F3 Then woe mine eyes vnlesse they beautie see.

1615 Lady Eleanor Warning to Dragon 17 I commanded, Iudgement should runne downe free as water, and Righteousnesse as a mighty streame; Woe the Bloody Citie.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 108 Wo to him, that in the desart Land Of Lybia travels.

1721 A. Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 25 Wae to that hand that dares..Defile the stream.

1796 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum V. 414 Now wae to thee thou cruel lord, A bludy man I trow thou be.

1829 K. H. Digby Broad Stone of Honour: Godefridus xvii. 205 But woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead.

1842 E. Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni i. ii. 11 Woe to thine ears hadst thou heard the barbiton that night!

1928 Steubenville (Ohio) Herald-Star 20 Oct. 6/2 Were that curbed, next would come restrictions on the press, Woe the day!

2010 N.Y. Times 22 Jan. c12/2 Woe to the grouchy sports hero who dares to tell children to stop believing in magic.

b. With on, upon, †for. Now rare (archaic and humorous).

ΚΠ

1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes iii. xi. f. 172^v/1 Woe on that realme, where the pacient are despised.

1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion vi. 91 Woe for thee Faire Elstred, that thou should'st thy fairer Sabrine see,..the prey to her sterne rage.

1672 J. Phillips Maronides 41 But wo for him in time of need, The more the hast, the worse the speed.

1745 C. Cibber Papal Tyranny v. 61 Depart This Land—or Woe on thy rebellious Head.

1794 W. P. Carey Appeal to People of Ireland 44 Woe upon the head of the luckless individual..who attempts to speak.

1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward III. vii. 173 Some articles we will minute down with which he shall comply, or woe on his head!

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxvi. 113 Oh, woe for them..when they shall wake!

a1895 E. Field Ballad of Taylor Pup in Songs & Other Verse (1896) 180 Woe, woe on Annie's India mull, And Sissy's blue percale!

1917 P. Worth Sorry Tale 218 He should off and ne'er shew him unto the eyes of Jacob, or woe upon him!

1934 D. Thomas Let. May in Love Lett. (2001) 35 Woe on the sun that he bloody well shines not.

C. n.

(a) A state or condition of misery, suffering, or emotional distress; misfortune, trouble. Chiefly poetic and literary. Now also in humorous or hyperbolical use; cf. tale of woe at Phrases 5.In quot. a1425 personified.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun]

unselthc888

ermtheOE

unselea1023

wellawayOE

wretchhead1154

wandrethc1175

woec1175

wanea1200

wretchdom?c1225

yomernessc1250

balec1275

un-i-selec1275

wan-siðc1275

unseelinessa1300

wretchedheada1300

cursedness1303

wretcheddomc1320

wrechea1325

wretchnessa1330

tribulationc1330

wretchednessa1340

caitifty1340

meeknessa1382

unwealsomeness1382

infelicityc1384

caitifhedea1400

ill liking?a1400

sorea1400

ungleea1400

unweala1400

caitifnessc1400

deploration1490

caitifdoma1500

woefulnessa1513

misery1527

miserity1533

mishappinessa1542

unwealfulnessa1555

tribulance1575

miserableness1613

agony1621

desolatenessa1626

unblissa1628

unhappiness1722

misère1791

shadow1855

valley1882

miz1918

society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > types of narrative or story generally > [noun] > sad

woea1425

passional1568

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 897 Baþehemm fell to þolenn wa Þurrh ifell wifess irre.

c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Royal) (1938) 38 (MED) Ih am siker ine godd þet ne schal lif ne deð, ne wa ne wunne [a1250 Titus ne wa ne pine] nowðer, todealen us ant his luue.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 237 Issa was hire firste name..Siðen ghe brocte us to woa, Adam gaf hire name eua.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 22472 Quar-to sold we be born to-day, Quen al þing sal com to way?

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4995 With hir labour and travaile Logged ben with sorwe and woo.

c1480 (a1400) St. Thomas Apostle 250 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 136 He vald firste quyke þam fla, & bryne þame syne in doile & va.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccccxxxiv. 308 b/2 The capitayne..had dayly great payne and wo to defende their towne.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 3 The Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe .

1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 160 Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow, And quite forgot their vices in their woe.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. x. 243 A screech-owl denouncing some deed of terror and of woe.

1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades i. 24 Self-inflicted death and age-long woe.

1935 Princeton Alumni Weekly 13 Dec. 290/3 The Philadelphia Record is his fosterer, feeder, and friend in time of woe.

2003 Philadelphia Inquirer 9 Feb. a1/1 During lulls on the graveyard shift, she would complain to coworkers, spreading a wet blanket of woe on their coffee break.

(b) Paired or contrasted with weal. Cf. weal n.¹ 2b.Now most common in Asian English, esp. Chinese usage.

ΚΠ

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 216 A fruit ðe kenned wel and wo.

a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) 3428 Þere his folk conne wel or weye Him to fore nys bote teȝ.

a1450 (?c1405) in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 24 (MED) God haþ lent ȝow discrecioun Boþe of wele and of woo.

c1480 (a1400) St. George 235 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 182 Fore wele na way of þis place sal I nocht ga.

1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 182 Greit cause thay haif for till repent, Zot will thay nocht do so, Nouther for weill nor wo.

1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah xii. 257 Let there come vpon vs weale or woe,..we are dull and insensible.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 133 All this will soon Follow, as to him linkt in weal or woe .

1735 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 728/1 The chusing of a wife Is certain weal, or woe for life.

1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms i. 351 Whate'er betide of weal or woe.

1860 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands I. vi. 299 Two important commonwealths, upon whose action..the weal and wo of Christendom was hanging.

1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. ix. 169 Future centuries may see the breaking down, for weal or woe, of many cultural barriers.

2013 Global Times (China) (Nexis) 14 Nov. China's leadership and its people are bound to share weal and woe together.

b. A cause of misfortune, trouble, or sorrow. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [noun] > misfortune or ill-luck > causing or bringing misfortune > one who or that which

foota1225

woea1300

infortunec1405

infortunate1558

jettatura1822

bad medicine1857

hoodoo1882

voodoo1902

jinx1911

mock1911

mocker1923

kiss of death1948

a1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Vitell.) (1966) l. 187 (MED) Þat is ȝet mi meste wo, Ȝif ich hit finde & hit forgo.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2600 (MED) I am geld; þat es me wa.

c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1176 My wele, my woo, my paradise, my lyvis sustenaunce!

1578 T. Blenerhasset 2nd Pt. Mirrour for Magistrates Sigebert f. 45 Welth is my woe, the causer of my care.

1672 J. Howard All Mistaken i. 6 Her hate shall seem my Joy; which is my Woe.

1704 Poems on Affairs of State III. 393 Should this Unchristian bitter Bill succeed, 'Twould be a Woe to Hypocrites indeed.

1828 G. S. Faber Sacred Cal. Prophecy III. v. ii. 103 According to the one prediction, the Turks cease to be a woe to the Roman Empire very shortly after the year 1690.

1899 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Aug. 220 I am humble, and timid, and small—small, that's my woe.

1939 G. Santayana Let. 16 Aug. (2004) VI. 258 Foreigners have almost ceased to come here:..a woe for the hotel-keepers.

c. An instance of misfortune; an affliction; a trouble, a problem. Now usually in plural.In Middle English also spec.: an affliction sent by God; a plague.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > [noun]

sorec888

teeneOE

sorrowOE

workOE

wrakeOE

careOE

gramec1000

harmOE

howc1000

trayOE

woweOE

angec1175

derfnessc1175

sytec1175

unwinc1175

wosithc1200

ail?c1225

barrat?c1225

derf?c1225

grief?c1225

misease?c1225

misliking?c1225

ofthinkingc1225

passion?c1225

troublec1230

pinec1275

distress1297

grievancea1300

penancea1300

cumbermentc1300

languorc1300

cumbering1303

were1303

angera1325

strifea1325

sweama1325

woea1325

painc1330

tribulationc1330

illa1340

threst1340

constraintc1374

troublenessc1380

afflictiona1382

bruisinga1382

miseasetya1382

pressurec1384

exercisec1386

miscomfortc1390

mislikea1400

smarta1400

thronga1400

balec1400

painfulnessc1400

troublancec1400

smartness?c1425

painliness1435

perplexity?a1439

penalty?1462

calamity1490

penality1496

cumber?a1513

sussy1513

tribule1513

afflict?1529

vexation of spirit1535

troublesomeness1561

hoe1567

grievedness1571

tribulance1575

languishment1576

thrall1578

tine1590

languorment1593

aggrievedness1594

obturbation1623

afflictedness1646

erumny1657

pathos1684

shock1705

dree1791

vex1815

wrungnessa1875

dukkha1886

thinkache1892

sufferation1976

the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > circumstance or occurrence

plightc1300

woea1325

fanda1400

afflictionc1429

assayc1430

brier?1504

trouble?1521

distress1549

smarts1552

say?1572

infliction1590

disaccommodation1645

trial1754

ordeal1807

time1809

kill-cow1825

Via Crucis1844

Via Dolorosa1844

racket1877

pisser1957

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 69 Pride made angel deuel dwale, Ðat made ilc sorge and euerilc bale And euerilc wunder and euerilc wo.

c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 85 (MED) Þan endeþ þat oþer woo; And þe þrid woo shal sone come.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. ix. 12 Oo woo passid, and lo! ȝit comen two wos.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 4592 (MED) Ware þai so wyse þat has waes, qua ware so wide praysed As þa þat lepros ere & lame þat neuire of leth knewe?

1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 36 All the wois that Ouid in Ibin Into his pretty lytill buik did wryte.

1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 18 One woe makes another woe seeme lesse.

1642 J. Taylor Mad Fashions sig. A2^v Those Rebells that doe breed her [sc. Ireland] woes.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 604 Latinus tears his Garments as he goes, Both for his publick, and his private Woes.

1714 E. Young Force of Relig. i. 258 Now she revolves within her anxious mind, What woe still lingers in reserve behind.

1763 Rural Conf. 11 Civic woes concern not rustic swains.

1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. xii. 152 Who has not been touched with the woes of his lovely and gentle queen, subjected by him to a trial of life and death, on a false charge of infidelity?

1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 28 Great Ossa..lay Like the foreboding of a coming woe.

1920 Discovery May 146 The most fundamental cause of all our present economic woes.

2015 Bristol Post (Nexis) 30 July 10 The only solution to this catalogue of woes is for the Mayor to introduce some form of parking restrictions.

†2. The pain, punishment, or suffering thought to be endured by souls in hell or purgatory; (also) an instance of this. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > hell > [noun] > torment of Hell

witec825

pineOE

wormc1000

woec1175

painc1300

second deathc1384

penancec1395

burning marl1667

penancy1682

torment1852

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1400 Forr whatt teȝȝ fellenn sone dun Off heoffne. & inn till helle. Till eche wa.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 209 To takenn ut off helle wa. Þa gode sawless alle.

c1300 St. James Great (Laud) 77 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 36 Þou sendest us þare we gret wo i-fielde, In gret torment and brenningue.

c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 148 Þus þe deuel ydampned hys, And wyþ hym..Deuelen wel mo;..Moche hys þe pyne þat hem eyleþ, And eke þe who.

?c1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Arms) l. 754 (MED) To bowe and lyue wiþouten ende Or elles to dyȝe and to woo wende.

a1450 ( in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 4 The more he dwelleth theryn long, To his soule he encreseth woo.

1578 W. Hilton in tr. Urbanus Regius Serm. Christ on Way to Emaus Ep. Ded. sig. A.vii Let not your..bodyes, so haue their willes..that your soules (which must aunswere for it) suffer woe, and payne.

a1616 H. Airay Lect. Philipp. (1618) lxxiii. 859 The other suffered woe and torments in hell immediatly.

a1665 G. Starkey Expos. Six Gates iii. 234 in Ripley Reviv'd (1678) To suffer all the pain and woe of this our Purgatory.

a1711 T. Ken Preparatives for Death in Wks. (1721) IV. 117 Their Cure in Hell will soon be wrought; They'll wake, hear, see, feel endless Woe.

1781 Transl. & Paraphr. Sacred Script. (Gen. Assembly Church of Scotl.) xli. 68 Who looks to him with lively faith is sav'd from endless woes.

1838 Intellect. Repository Jan. 28 Having endured ages of woe in hell, it [sc. the soul] is to be brought to the bar..in order to see if its former ‘doom’ was just or not.

†3. Physical pain or distress; disease; infirmity. Obsolete.Now merged in sense C. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [noun]

unhealc700

untrumnessc897

adleeOE

sicknessc967

cothec1000

unhealthc1000

woe?a1200

ail?c1225

lying?c1225

maladyc1275

unsoundc1275

feebless1297

languora1375

languishc1384

disease1393

aegritudea1400

lamea1400

maleasea1400

soughta1400

wilc1400

malefaction?a1425

firmityc1426

unwholesomenessc1449

ill1450

languenta1500

distemperancea1535

the valley of the shadow of death1535

affect?1537

affection?1541

distemperature1541

inability1547

sickliness1565

languishment1576

cause1578

unhealthfulness1589

crazedness1593

languorment1593

evilness1599

strickenness1599

craziness1602

distemper1604

unsoundness1605

invaletude1623

unhealthiness1634

achaque1647

unwellness1653

disailment1657

insalubrity1668

faintiness1683

queerness1687

invalidity1690

illness1692

ill health1698

ailment1708

illing1719

invalescence1724

peakingness1727

sickishness1727

valetudinariness1742

ailingness1776

brash1786

invalidism1794

poorliness1814

diseasement1826

invalidship1830

valetudinarianism1839

ailing1862

invalidhood1863

megrims1870

pourriture1890

immersement1903

bug1918

condition1920

the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > [noun]

sorec825

acheeOE

wrakeOE

trayOE

woe?a1200

pinec1200

sorrowc1225

teenc1225

grievousness1303

dolec1320

balea1325

painc1330

warkingc1340

dolour?c1370

sufferance1422

offencea1425

angerc1440

sufferingc1450

penalty?1462

penality1496

grief1509

stress1533

sufferance1597

somatalgia1607

suffering1609

tort1632

miserya1825

?a1200 ( tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Harl. 6258B) cxviii. 161 Þi ðriddan dæȝe hit þar sor binimeð & æl wo ȝehæleð. [No direct equivalent in Old English MSS.]

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 163 He lette ham þolien wa inoch. hunger. þurst. & Muche swinc.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 1918 He was..pur mesel þo, & he bicom in is baptizinge hol of al is wo.

c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 91 Woo and sorenes of þe entrelles wasted..a greet nombre.

a1425 (?c1300) Northern Passion (Cambr. Gg.5.31) 49 Þai..dyd hym tyll pyne and waa And euyr þai thoght hym for to slaa.

c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) 1033 A litil wetinge of watur his wo wol amende.

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 115^v (MED) It sueþ wheþir it [sc. canker] be kutt al aweye or y-left stille, it bringiþ wo & sorowe to þe pacient.

4. Sorrow, grief, anguish (as a state of mind or feeling). rare in later use except as merged in sense C. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > [noun]

tintreghc893

threat971

piningOE

murderOE

anguish?c1225

woea1250

pinec1275

tormentc1290

languorc1300

heartbreakc1330

surcarkingc1330

martyrement1340

threst1340

agonyc1384

martyrdomc1384

tormentryc1386

martyre?a1400

tormentisec1405

rack?a1425

anguishing1433

angorc1450

anguishnessa1475

torture?c1550

heartsickness1556

butchery1582

heartache1587

anguishment1592

living hell1596

discruciation1597

heart-aching1607

throeing1615

rigour1632

crucifixion1648

lancination1649

bosom-hell1674

heart-rending1707

brain-racking1708

tormentation1789

bosom-throe1827

angoisse1910

a1250 Lofsong Louerde in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 213 (MED) Iblesced beo þet þus went lure to biȝeate; sikerliche al mi woa on eorðe schal turnen me to ioie ȝif ich Godd luuie mid treowe bileaue.

c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 263 Heo louede so horn child Þat neȝ heo gan wexe wild..In heorte heo hadde wo.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1483 Neiȝh wod of witte for woo of þat sawe.

?a1430 T. Hoccleve Mother of God l. 57 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 54 Tendrely remembre on the wo & peyne Þat thow souffridist in his passioun.

?a1500 Court of Love (Trin. Cambr. R.3.19) l. 256 in K. Forni Chaucerian Apocrypha (2005) ‘For soth’, quod she, ‘thay waylen of theire woo.’

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 23^v Mony wyues for woo of þere wit past.

1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) 66 My hairt, tak nowdir pane nor wa, For Meg, for Meriory, or ȝit Mawis.

1620 J. Taylor Jack a Lent (new ed.) sig. C2 The poore Curres..stinke for woe, for feare that another Lent is come sodainely vpon them.

1700 N. Tate & N. Brady Suppl. to New Version Psalms 14 Sinners at his triumph griev'd, Shall fret and gnash their Teeth for woe.

1790 Monitor 1 150 In pensive mood, with heartfelt woe, alone, appall'd I sat.

1812 Belfast Monthly Mag. Jan. 47/1 With no kind friend to soothe his heartfelt woe.

1917 M. Johnston Wanderers xii. 242 She had not before felt woe and sadness like this.

1968 L. Rosten Joys of Yiddish 273 ‘Oy vay!’..is used as an all-purpose ejaculation to express anything from trivial delight to abysmal woe.

†5. Lamentation, mourning. Often in to make woe. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > [noun]

carea1000

sorrowingOE

meaninga1200

moan?c1225

mourning?c1225

plaint?c1225

ruthc1225

weimerc1230

mean?c1250

sorrow?c1250

dolec1290

plainingc1300

woec1300

dolourc1320

mourna1350

waymentingc1350

penancec1380

complaintc1384

lamentationc1384

complainingc1385

moaninga1400

waiminga1400

waymenta1400

waymentationc1400

dillc1420

merourec1429

plainc1475

regratec1480

complainc1485

regretc1500

lamenting1513

doleance1524

deploration1533

deplorement1593

condolement1602

regreeting1606

imploration1607

pother1638

dolinga1668

moanification1827

dolence1861

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 465 Godard herde here wa, Ther-offe yaf he nouth a stra.

c1330 Sir Orfeo (Auch.) (1966) l. 195 Þo was þer criing, wepe, & wo.

c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) l. 2361 Michel woo and grete wailynges Was made.

a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 1057 Ffor shame! why makest þou al this wo?

?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 52 I haif a watter spunge for wa within my wyde clokis. Than wring I it full wylely and wetis my chekis.

1586 W. Warner Albions Eng. i. ii. 4 It was a woe to heare their woe.

1634 M. Casaubon tr. M. Aurelius Meditations xi. 190 Thou doest take on grievously, or makest great woe.

6. An utterance of the word ‘woe’ in denunciation or condemnation; an anathema, a curse.Frequently in biblical contexts.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > malediction > [noun]

cursea1050

malisonc1300

woea1425

evil thee1509

thunderbolt1559

vae1559

thunder-crack1577

ban1590

wish1597

anathema1603

imprecation1603

execration1605

thunder-clap1610

deprecationa1661

effulminationa1670

Maranatha1769

winze1786

cuss1829

sailor's blessing1876

blessing1878

sailor's farewell1937

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 379 Crist telliþ eiȝte woos to þese Farisees..for þei disseyven his puple. Þe first woo þat Crist seiþ is teld on þis maner, [etc.].

c1475 MS Trin. Dublin 245 in J. H. Todd Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) p. xi Her enden the eighte woois that God wishid to freris. Amen.

1546 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 1st Pt. f. 75 He went fearcelye vpon them with wo vpon wo.

1637 S. Rutherford Let. 10 Aug. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) 341 There is a woe, woe to him by whom offences come: This woe came out of Christ's mouth.

1657 T. Aylesbury Treat. Confession of Sinne vii. 146 A necessity is laid upon us with a woe and an Anathema, if we come not to confession.

1738 G. Whitefield Great Duty of Family Relig. 8 We cannot but pronounce a Woe against those masters by whom such offences come.

1791 O. S. Cooper 400 Texts Holy Script. 39 The four woes relate to the four blessings before mentioned.

1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian x, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 246 She bore a male-child, under circumstances which added treble bitterness to the woe denounced against our original mother.

1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands viii. 228 The woe..pronounced by the Saviour—that woe so literally fulfilled.

1908 Trans. 3rd Internat. Congr. Hist. Relig. 2 325 What else can we gather from the Woes upon Chorazin and Bethsaida?

2010 M. McKenna Tasting Word of God 343 He [sc. Jesus] gives the four blessings and the four woes that bind others to him:..woes for the wealthy, the secure and full, [etc.].

D. adj. (originally and chiefly predicative).This use developed by a process common to the history of impersonal expressions in which an original dative was converted into a nominative; me is wo became I am wo, as me longeth became I long. Hence, often difficult to distinguish from sense B. 2 in Middle English.

1. Full of sorrow, grief, or misery; mournful, sad.

a. Of the heart, soul, etc. Cf. wasteheart int. In later use chiefly Scottish. Now rare.Some early examples may represent sense B. 2 (see note at sense D.).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective] > specifically of the heart

woea1200

a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 149 (MED) Wuo is mi soule þat ich bide here swo longe.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) ll. 12440 For-soþ myne hert is wa.

1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) xx. 196 Than war thair hertis all so wa.

1529 in J. Wilson Ann. Hawick (1850) 27 But Scotland's heart was ne'er sae wae, To see sae mony brave men die.

1591 M. Drayton Harmonie of Church sig. D Oh holy blessed Sion hill! my heart is woe for thee.

1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 266 How woe my hart was.

c1660 S. Rutherford Christ & Doves 12 They rise many times off their Knees from Prayer with a woe heart.

1728 A. Ramsay Anacreontic on Love 11 With his complaint my soul grew wae.

1786 R. Burns Twa Dogs xiii, in Poems 14 An' mony a time my heart's been wae.

1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 121 But, waes my heart, I had been tender a' the simmer.

1853 Pen & Pencil 29 Jan. 134 O wae's the heart When nought but that is left.

1894 R. Bridges A Robin iv She was not there, and my heart is woe.

1902 J. Lumsden Toorle 43 Naebody can catch trouts wi' a wae hairt an' tears, atweel!

1924 Quiver Apr. 592/1 My heart is wae for you.

1990 J. A. Begg in J. A. Begg & J. Reid Dipper & Three Wee Deils 24 Nou wae's the herts o daunerin men Harkin back whan they were boys, Tae hear the Connel Burn resoun Tae anither kin o noise.

(a) Of a person. Scottish in later use.Quot. a1225 may be an example of sense B. 2, as it is impossible to determine whether sancte paul is dative or nominative (see note at sense D.).With phrases such as woe in heart (see e.g. quots. c1300, a1450) cf. sense D. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective]

sorelyc888

gramec893

sorrowfuleOE

unblithec897

sorryeOE

carefulOE

charyOE

sickOE

yomerOE

sorry-moodOE

sweerc1000

yomerlyOE

sorrilyOE

woea1200

balec1220

sorry?c1225

sorec1275

gremefula1300

sada1300

ruthlyc1300

thoughtfulc1300

woebegonea1325

heavyc1330

grievousc1374

woefula1375

sorrowya1382

dereful?a1400

sorousa1400

sytefula1400

teenfula1400

wrotha1400

balefulc1400

tristy?c1400

tristc1420

dolefulc1430

wapped in woec1440

yhevidc1440

dolenta1450

condolentc1460

discomforted1477

tristfula1492

sorrow1496

dram?a1513

dolorous1513

earnful?1527

troublous1535

amort1546

mournfula1558

passioned1560

sadded1566

tristive1578

distressed1586

passionate1586

sorrowed1596

distressful1601

passionful1605

sighful1606

contristed1625

anguishinga1642

sadful1658

saddened1665

tristitious1694

sick as a parrot1705

pangful1727

woesome1778

grieving1807

ruesome1833

yearned1838

doleant1861

mournsome1869

thoughted1869

tragical1887

grief-stricken1905

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 173 Ðanne stondeð þo wreches alse þo þe wo beð.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 45 Þa wes sancte paul swiðe wa and abeh him redliche to his lauerdes fet.

c1225 Scribble (Hatton 116) in R. Vleeskruyer Life St Chad (1953) 6 Ic am nout for þisse þinge wo.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1130 Corineus wes un-eðe & wa [c1300 Otho wo] on his mode.

c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 275 Þe stuard was in herte wo, For he nuste what to do.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1833 (MED) Iacob was wo ðat he is for-soc.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14546 His disciplis þan war ful waa, þat þair maister was hated sua.

a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 3446 He nas neuer ere so sore aferde Ny neuer in hert half so wo.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 446 Full wo was La Beale Isode.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xxii. 10 Mourne not ouer the deed, and be not wo for them.

1573 J. Fowler in More's Dialoge of Cumfort (rev. ed.) To Rdr. sig. *iiij Man himselfe borne of a woman, is in dede a wo man, that is, ful of wo and miserie.

1637 S. Rutherford Let. in Joshua Redivivus (1671) 173 If it be not so, I will be woe to be a witness against them.

1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 211 I am wae for your Skathe.

1778 H. Brooke Female Officer ii. iii, in Coll. Plays & Poems IV. 287 I am a woe woman this heavy day.

1835 J. W. Carlyle Lett. (1883) I. 44 Poor Queen!.. I was wae to look at her, wae to think of her.

1887 H. Caine Deemster III. xxxv. 96 She had grown ‘wae’ as folk said.

1964 Southern Reporter 26 Mar. 9 She was wae to go, and so were her bairns.

2004 J. Waddell Halesome Farin' 87 A'm wae tae grieve ye, But for a whilie A maun leave ye.

†(b) In the comparative and superlative. Obsolete (Scottish in later use).

ΚΠ

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 2004 And he þe waest [a1500 Trin. Dublin woest] of þe werd.

1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) xvi. 249 Mycht na man se a waer [1487 St. John's Cambr. vrathar] man.

a1500 (c1370) G. Chaucer Complaint unto Pity (BL Add.) (1886) l. 3 In this world was no wight woer.

a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 963 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 125 I couth nocht won in to welth wreth wast [1568 Bannatyne wrech wayest].

a1796 R. Burns Wks. (1840) 324/1 That year I was the waest man O' ony man alive.

1831 J. W. Carlyle Let. 18 Aug. in Coll. Lett. T. &. J. W. Carlyle (1976) V. 345 I am wae for them all—I should be waeest for my self.

1846 A. Laing Wayside Flowers 29 She's wae for hersel', but she's waeer for them.

c. In prophetic, denunciatory, or exclamatory utterances. Cf. senses B. 1, B. 2. Now archaic and humorous.In later use often modelled on woe is me at Phrases 2, woe being construed as an adjective (see note at sense D.).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > [adjective]

angeredc1275

miseasedc1390

woea1398

forpainedc1400

labouringc1425

passive?a1439

painedc1450

loaden1542

sored1557

stressed1559

pinched1566

grieved1586

suffering1609

heavy-laden1611

undergoinga1616

vulned1628

loaded1661

afflicted1690

sick as a parrot1705

crosseda1732

wrung1862

traumatized1935

fraught1966

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xix. 320 Woo is þe lond þat hath a childe kinge and princes þat etiþ erliche.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22105 Corozaim, ai be ye waa! And sua be ye bethaida!

a1425 Benjamin Minor (Harl. 1022) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 165 Wo is he þat wotnot how harde it is..to a fleshle saule..for to ryse in knawyng of vnseabull ynges.

c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 332 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 160 Iervsalem, euir va þu be!

a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 1691 This Giaunt hym toke, wo he be!

c1525 J. Rastell New Commodye Propertes of Women sig. Cii^v A baudy wych Callyd celystyne that wo myght she be.

1568 (a1500) Colkelbie Sow i. 144 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 286 Wo is him [sc. the dog] Þat hes royne [= mange].

1614 J. Alliston Christians Guide 501 Woe, woe is vs; Who is able to dwell with this deuouring fire?

1687 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II (ed. 2) II. vii. 528 Wo are we!..nothing will be left besides our selves for his fiery indignation to prey on.

1785 Polit. Psalm 13 Woe are they! the devices of the ungodly have prevailed!

1842 T. Ragg Thoughts on Salvation i. 20 Ah! woe are they whose bread has been tainted by mephitic vapours.

1879 A. J. Ryan Father Ryan's Poems 146 Woe are all! woe are we! Death is victor in the strife.

1917 Amer. Machinist 21 June 1072/2 Woe was him! Sadly he went out and caught a job on the front end of a trolley car.

1990 J. Conaway Napa xiii. 124 They went through the wines, and woe be he who didn't have a trenchant remark for the products at hand.

a. Of an event, situation, etc.: fraught with or causing sorrow, distress, or misfortune. Chiefly with anticipatory it as subject. Cf. Compounds 1. Now rare (archaic in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > miserable or wretched > full of or attended with misery

wretch1131

wretchlyc1200

woefula1393

miserousc1475

miserable?a1513

miser1542

woe1572

thrallfula1618

the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [adjective] > of conditions or events

wretch1131

wretchedc1200

feeble1297

wrackfulc1311

woefula1393

miserousc1475

miserable?a1513

discomfortablea1535

calamitous1545

tristsum1567

woe1572

untoward1632

1572 Daniels Siftyng (single sheet) The footesteps that Adam, and Eue first dyd trace, To the forboden tree: brought them in woe case.

1615 J. Day Festivals 155 Were it not for Bread, it would be woe with Mankind.

a1631 J. Eaton Honey-combe Free Justific. (1642) 69 If he did, it would soone bee woe with us all.

1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc vi. 256 Oh! woe it is to think So many men shall never see the sun Go down!

1907 Washington Post 7 Apr. h11/1 Ah, woe it is to be a fish.

1981 D. Purves Knicht o Riddils in Lallans 16 29 Lang, langsyne, the war a keing an his queen, bydan thegither in mukkil content. But the wae days war no ferr ahint.

b. Chiefly Scottish. Expressive or indicative of sorrow or distress; characterized by woe. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1593 T. Lodge Phillis sig. I4 When I cry'd, O pitty me my King, His eyes cry'd pitty me, by woe looking.

1618 S. Rowlands Sacred Memorie 46 Hadst thou been heere, his life preseru'd had bin, And these woe teares we had not bathed in.

1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. 188 Ye've gotten a wae look wi' you.

1894 A. Reid Sangs Heatherland 129 He huid the bit handie, the mither was by, The faither aye prayin', a' hushed the wae cry.

1912 N. Munro Ayrshire Idylls (1935) 299 I thought the same wae humour came to Galt.

1913 N. Munro in Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 784/2 The wae wee chirrup of the yellow-yite.

1934 H. B. Cruickshank Up Noran Water 2 Tho' his tongue was licht wi' joke an' tale, His een were wae.

1990 J. Reid in J. A. Begg & J. Reid Dipper & Three Wee Deils 7 The voice was wae an low, Like ane wha'd suffered lang an slow.

Phrases

P1. to work (also †do) (a person) woe: to inflict distress or trouble on (a person); to afflict; to do harm to. Also without indirect object. Now archaic.woe is originally an adverb in this phrase, but is later apprehended as a noun (cf. sense C. 1). [Compare Old High German wē tuon (Middle High German wē tuon, German weh tun).]

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict

overharryeOE

aileOE

swencheOE

besetOE

traya1000

teenOE

to work (also do) (a person) woeOE

derve?c1225

grieve1297

harrya1300

noyc1300

travailc1300

to work (also do) annoyc1300

wrath14..

aggrievea1325

annoya1325

tribula1325

to hold wakenc1330

anguish1340

distrainc1374

wrap1380

strain1382

ermec1386

afflicta1393

cumbera1400

assayc1400

distressc1400

temptc1400

encumber1413

labour1437

infortune?a1439

stressa1450

trouble1489

arraya1500

constraina1500

attempt1525

misease1530

exercise1531

to hold or keep waking1533

try1539

to wring to the worse1542

pinch1548

affligec1550

trounce1551

oppress1555

inflict1566

overharl1570

strait1579

to make a martyr of1599

straiten1611

tribulatea1637

to put through the hoop(s)1919

snooter1923

the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)]

heavyc897

pineeOE

aileOE

sorryeOE

traya1000

sorrowOE

to work (also do) (a person) woeOE

angerc1175

smarta1200

to work, bake, brew balec1200

derve?c1225

grieve?c1225

sitc1225

sweam?c1225

gnawc1230

sughc1230

troublec1230

aggrievea1325

to think sweama1325

unframea1325

anguish1340

teen1340

sowa1352

distrainc1374

to-troublea1382

strain1382

unglad1390

afflicta1393

paina1393

distressa1400

hita1400

sorea1400

assayc1400

remordc1400

temptc1400

to sit (or set) one sorec1420

overthrow?a1425

visit1424

labour1437

passionc1470

arraya1500

constraina1500

misgrievea1500

attempt1525

exagitate1532

to wring to the worse1542

toil1549

lament1580

adolorate1598

rankle1659

try1702

to pass over ——1790

upset1805

to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823

to put (a person) through it1855

bludgeon1888

to get to ——1904

to put through the hoop(s)1919

OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxviii. 138 Ealles forgeaton, þa me grame wæron, worda þinra and me wa dydan.

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 513 Hu monie earmðen anan awakeneð þerwið, þe wurcheð þe wa inoh.

?c1250 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Egerton) 289 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 177 Ac ȝet ne deð heom nout so wo in þo loþe biende bute þat hi witeð þat heore pine ne scal neure habben ende.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 880 Abram hem folwede and wrogte woa.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5531 Bot ai þe mare þai did [þ] am wa þis folk multiplid ai maa.

a1450 ( in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 42 I do þe wele, why dost me woo?

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) i. l. 1571 Iubiter sulde noucht..wyrk hym mar wa na dispyte.

a1500 Anc. Sc. Prophecy in Bernardus de Cura Rei Famuliaris 25 He kest the stone in þe watter, & bad it waa worghe.

1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1928) xviii. 86 It doth ryght well appere..that loue hath done you wo.

?1553 Respublica (1952) v. viii. 57 T(he)is l(adies)..pr(ep)are to weorke vs woo, and doo vs all mischiefe.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 253 Thou knowst..what malicious Foe..seeks to work us woe and shame By sly assault.

1764 C. Churchill Duellist ii. 18 Lust of Pow'r, To work him woe, in evil hour Debauch'd the Tyrant from those ways On which a King should found his praise.

1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere ii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 11 I had done an hellish thing And it would work 'em woe.

1890 Lucifer May 192 Our friend is inclined to vehemently suspect you of being the vile enchanter who has worked him woe.

1911 World's Work June 14523/1 He has come voluntarily to choose, of two courses, the less attractive, lest the more attractive work him woe.

2015 W. Bonsall Essent. Guide to Radical, Self-reliant Gardening 150/2 Their [sc. tomatoes'] own residues are apt to work them woe.

P2. woe is me.

a. I am distressed, unfortunate, sorrowful, etc. Now archaic or in humorous or hyperbolical use. Cf. sense B. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > cry of grief > [interjection] > specific cry of grief

woeeOE

wellawayeOE

weilac1000

wellawayOE

wellaOE

woe is meOE

wummec1175

wia1200

outa1225

alas?c1225

walec1275

ac1300

whilec1402

ochonea1425

wellesay?1440

wannowec1450

helas1484

ah1509

ocha1522

ah me!a1547

wougha1556

eh1569

welladay1570

how1575

wellanear1581

ay me!1591

lasa1593

wella, welladay1601

good lack!1638

oime1660

pillaloo1663

wellanearing1683

lack-a-day1695

wasteheart1695

walya1724

lackadaisy1748

ochree1748

waesucks1773

well-a-winsa1774

ullagone1819

wirra1825

mavrone1827

wirrasthru1827

ototoi1877

wurra1898

OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 278 Heu mihi, domine, quia peccaui nimis in uita mea wa is me, drihten, forþan þe ic syngode swiðe on minum life.

lOE Homily (Corpus Cambr. 302) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 167 Wa is me, forþam þe ic ne ondred me helle wite.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14147 Wa is me [c1300 Otho wo his me] þat ich was mon iboren.

c1300 St. Mary Magdalen (Laud) l. 364 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 472 Wo is me for þis ȝunge child and for mi Quien þat ich habbe i-lore.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 957 (MED) Allas..wa es me, lauerd, þat i ne had troude þe.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 3075 ‘Wa is me!’ quod he,..‘wa is me vnhappy!’

c1480 (a1400) St. George 146 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 180 Wais me, douchtir, for þe.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. i. 133 Bot netheles, quhat harm, ful wayis me!

1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Sept. 25 My sheepe bene wasted, (wae is me therefore).

1617 I. H. in Greenes Groatsworth of Witte (rev. ed.) To Wittie Poets sig. A2 This olde Ballad made in Hell: Ingenio perij, qui miser ipse meo: Wit, whither wilt thou? woe is me.

1683 G. Meriton York-shire Dialogue in Pure Nat. Dial. 6 Waies is me Husband, our awd Breads all gane.

1729 G. Adams tr. Sophocles Antigone ii. v, in tr. Sophocles Trag. II. 34 Wo is me a Wretch!

1798 W. Wordsworth Thorn vi, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 121 To herself she cries, ‘Oh! oh misery! Oh woe is me!’

1855 Harper's Mag. July 212/1 But woe is me, Thomas Newcome's fondest hopes were disappointed this time.

1892 F. J. Furnivall Hoccleve's Minor Poems p. xliv Lastly (woe is me!) I printed it in 1878 from [etc.].

1930 San Mateo (Calif.) Times 3 Oct. 8/4 Woe is me! What will I do?

2011 C. Beall Healing your Marriage xiii. 179 We have resisted the temptation to say ‘woe is me’.

b. Used attributively (usually hyphenated), frequently with disparaging implication of indulging in self-pity or pessimism.

ΚΠ

1926 Atlantic (Iowa) News-Telegraph 1 Sept. 2/3 The farmers..are out for a joy ride and are doing a lot of smiling, leaving the ‘woe is me’ stunt for the politicians.

1959 Prairie Schooner Fall 202/2 Unlike the bland woe-is-me windiness of Thomas..there is some soul-wracking searching in Williams.

1995 Select Mar. 85/2 The band opt for a tone of glorious kick-ass celebration rather than the all too obvious woe-is-me melancholia.

2012 K. J. Revis Be Changemaster 2 I bought into the common woe-is-me attitude, frustration, and belief that change is hard.

P3. woe betide you (also him, her, etc.): (originally) may evil or misfortune happen to you (him, etc.); (in later use colloquial with weakened sense) you (he, etc.) will get into trouble (if..). Also without object (now archaic and rare).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene > imprecations

woeOE

dahetc1290

confoundc1330

foul (also shame) fall ——c1330

sorrow on——c1330

in the wanianda1352

wildfirea1375

evil theedomc1386

a pestilence on (also upon)c1390

woe betide you (also him, her, etc.)c1390

maldathaita1400

murrainc1400

out ona1415

in the wild waning worldc1485

vengeance?a1500

in a wanion1549

with a wanion1549

woe worth1553

a plague on——a1566

with a wanion to?c1570

with a wanyand1570

bot1584

maugre1590

poxa1592

death1593

rot1594

rot on1595

cancro1597

pax1604

pize on (also upon)1605

vild1605

peascod1606

cargo1607

confusion1608

perditiona1616

(a) pest upon1632

deuce1651

stap my vitals1697

strike me blind, dumb, lucky (if, but—)1697

stop my vitals1699

split me (or my windpipe)1700

rabbit1701

consume1756

capot me!1760

nick me!1760

weary set1788

rats1816

bad cess to1859

curse1885

hanged1887

buggeration1964

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. ii. l. 86 And ar þis weddyng beo wrouȝt wo þe beo-tyde!

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. l. 116 Er Ich wedde such a wyf wo me bi-tyde!

1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iv. ii. 56 Now helpe, or woe betide thee euermore.

1644 Humble Petition of Retaylers sig. A2^v Woe betide them that were the cause thereof.

1794 Har'st Rig cxxx. 40 For our sma' wage, O, wha wad bide, For scabbit aughtpence! woe betide That we shoul'd shear.

1819 J. Keats La Belle Dame ix And there I dream'd, ah! woe betide, The latest dream I ever dream'd.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. xii. 214 Go to the sick man's chamber..and woe betide you if you again quit it without my permission!

1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. vi. 112 If you're not sharp enough I'll creak the door, and wo betide you if I have to creak it much.

1915 J. Drinkwater in Bookman June 448/1 I married him on Christmas morn,—Ah, woe betide; ah, woe betide.

2012 Guardian 22 Aug. (G2 section) 10/2 Woe betide any trainee..who is discovered having a cup of tea.

P4. woe worth: see worth v.¹ Phrases 2.

P5. tale of woe: a narrative of (one's) problems or misfortunes. Often humorous or in hyperbolical use.

ΚΠ

1599 H. Petowe Philochasander & Elanira xl. sig. F4 She rauisht seem'd to heare that tale of woe.

1658 J. Mennes & J. Smith Wit Restor'd 171 Tell her this tale of woe. Tell her where she may finde Me tottering in the winde.

1684 Strange News from Newberry (single sheet) Attend with Lamentation, unto a tale of woe.

1764 T. Phillips Hist. Life R. Pole II. v. 293 The transactions of those ten years amount to no more than a Tale of Woe.

1790 S. T. Coleridge Genevieve 8 Within your soul a voice there lives! It bids you hear the tale of Woe.

1850 Eclectic Rev. Oct. 495 Ask the farmer what he thinks of..the ‘rust’ and ‘red robin’, and there will be unfolded such a tale of woe, such a history of ruin and calamity.

1880 Newcastle Courant 2 Jan. 4/5 Figures, especially when they are exact, are often destructive to a tale of woe.

1916 S. S. Sidelsky Tales of Traveler ii. 38 There we sat for the remainder of the day,..telling each other tales of woe in our experience with Carnation cuttings.

1951 Sport 16 Mar. 4/2 Listen to the tale of woe from Swindon Town, who..suffered their 16th away league defeat.

2014 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. (Nexis) 13 Oct. (NorthSide section) 1 jh Tell us your gas price tales of woe.

Compounds

C1. General attributive, as woe-day, woe-mark, woe-word, etc. Now rare (only in historical contexts).Some cases may be interpreted either as compounds of the noun or as showing uses of the adjective; cf. attributive uses at senses D. 1b, D. 1a, D. 2.

ΚΠ

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 226 Heren þet harde word þet wa word.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4364 Nu is icumen þin wa-dæi.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xix. 320 Þe king drank of his tent a wo drink [emended in ed. to an ouerdronk].

?a1400 in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1859) I. 48 Ipsis sit Waleway, meschef tristissima woday.

1593 T. Lodge Life & Death William Long Beard sig. C3 Faith is thy best, thy beautie is a woe thing.

1675 C. Cotton Burlesque upon Burlesque 6 What! must I undergoe this wo-thing, And suffer thus for doing nothing?

1691 A. D'Anvers Academia 11 It is a woe thing, When he need say no more then, nothing.

1789 Lady's Mag. May 269/1 Daphne has left me for a braggart's lye. And in the woe-tale does my fire decay.

a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 866 Wha, in his wae-days, were loyal to Charlie?

1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 185 Woe-hurricanes beat ever at the gate.

1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. ix. 151 The distress..which was crushing their lives out of them, and stamping woe-marks over the land.

1864 J. Rorke Fancies on Photograph i. xiv. 19 The pits and woe-marks in his beamless face.

1884 Alliance Reformed Churches: Minutes & Proc. 3rd Gen. Council 501 Does there not come..a most urgent ‘Woe’, ‘Woe’, from that Woe land?

2003 R. Kuyvenhoven in A. A. den Hollander et al. Paratext & Megatext as Channels Jewish & Christian Trad. 6 A woe-word is spoken against the shepherds of Israel.

C2. Objective, as woe-bringing, woe-foreboding, woe-working, etc.

ΚΠ

1653 R. Carpenter Anabaptist Washt Advt. to Rdr. 434 The same Wo-denouncing words and Accents, with which he cried against the Scribes and Pharisees.

1674 J. Maynard Law of God Ratified ii. 50 The fifth Angel sounded, which is the first of the three woe-bringing Trumpets.

1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 259 The natural progeny of that woe-begetting parent.

1809 T. Campbell Gertrude of Wyoming iii. xvi. 57 [He] smote his breast with woe-denouncing hand.

1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. 40 Three banners..The woe-foreboding peasant sees.

1887 S. M. Damon Old New-Eng. Days iv. 32 Again rang out that woe-proclaiming message, ‘The British are coming!’

1929 Folk-lore 40 98 Fairies are treated as partly woe-working.

2005 T. J. Betts Ezekiel the Priest iii. 58 Brownlee equates the material substance of the scroll..with the woe-bringing message of the prophet.

C3.

a. Instrumental, as woe-beset, woe-exhausted, woe-fraught, adjectives; †woe-enwrap, †woe-wrinkle, verbs, etc.

ΚΠ

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 2829 Al my face..So riveled and so wo besein.

?a1500 Court of Love (Trin. Cambr. R.3.19) l. 845 in K. Forni Chaucerian Apocrypha (2005) Ye made me wo bestad.

1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 26 Adams fall neuer so woe-enwrapped the earth, as the relation of them shall.

1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 29 Let me..waxe olde and woe-wrinckle my cheekes.

1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 97 A Woe-surcharged heart.

1619 M. Drayton Barons Warres vi. xcv, in Poems (rev. ed.) 97 Her woe-ty'd Tongue.

1729 R. Savage Wanderer ii. 203 She muses o'er her woe-embroider'd Vest.

1797 M. Robinson Walsingham III. 56 The woe-exhausted poet.

1818 J. Holder Poems 69 From whose woe-fraught bosom break Those dismal cries?

1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 51 I..see more clear Thy works within my woe-illumed mind.

1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. ii. 56 The beleaguered and woe-exhausted city.

1964 N.Y. Times 12 July x. 9/8 A performance that..stressed the rather joyous, certainly less..woe-filled elements and powers of the Fauré Requiem.

2002 Crain's Cleveland Business (Nexis) 9 Sept. 4 Its work force reached 2,000.., a neat trick in the woe-beset U.S. lodging industry.

woe-stricken adj.

ΚΠ

1766 E. Jerningham Yarico to Inkle 15 Bid her recline woe-stricken on thy Breast.

1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xix. 184 Arthur could not see how pallid and woe-stricken her face was.

1912 ‘R. Connor’ Corporal Cameron ii. v. 236 A glance at his young brother's pale and woe-stricken face changed his wrath to pity.

2012 Austral. Financial Rev. 8 Mar. (Second ed.) 12 The woe-stricken retail sector has been forced into a further 580 job cuts.

woestruck adj.

ΚΠ

1753 J. G. King Poems on Several Occasions 24 Each woe-struck heart with sighs lament thy end.

1828 T. Carlyle Werner in Foreign Rev. 1 133 It is the worst of all his pieces..: there is no passion or interest, but a certain woestruck martyr zeal.

1849 Friend 17 Feb. 170/1 Never have I looked upon an object so pitiable, so woe struck.

2006 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 16 Mar. (Sooner ed.) w16 Randy Kovitz plays Lyman, our woestruck and self-sabotaging protagonist.

woe-worn adj.

ΚΠ

1601 Marie Magdalens Lament. ii. 132 Poore wo-worn woman.

1799 H. Gurney Cupid & Psyche 46 These wan and woe-worn cheeks of mine.

1857 E. C. Gaskell Life C. Brontë II. xiii. 324 She saw her husband's woe-worn face.

1922 Rec. Christian Work 41 649/2 Beyond this sin-stricken, woe-worn world, there is a heaven of righteousness.

2006 Pittsburgh Tribune Rev. (Nexis) 8 Jan. Two woe-worn, would-be lovers..are chewed up, spit out and exploited by..the corporate system.

C4. In other adverbial relations.

† woe-betrothed adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Supplicants in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 75 My bursting heart..woe-betroth'd, fears e'en its friends.

† woe-destined adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1796 E. Hamilton Lett. Hindoo Rajah I. iv. 87 The..years, which might change the abode of the souls of these tyrant whites into the frames of woe-destined negroes.

† woe-sprung adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad 276 Their woe-sprung tears shall sue.

1883 C. G. D. Roberts Coll. Poems (1985) 76 She steeps The flowers buried in their earthy bed With woe-sprung showers of agony and dread.

woe-weary adj.

ΚΠ

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 793 He slod sliȝli a-doun a-slepe ful harde, as a wo wery weiȝh for-waked to-fore.

c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xxi. l. 1 (MED) Wo-werie and wetschode wente ich forth after, As a richeles renke þat reccheþ nat of sorwe.

1835 T. Wade Mundi et Cordis xxxii. 223 This woe-weary world, where chance and change Still drug joy's purest cup with misery.

1920 W. B. Hale Story Style viii. 256 He is woe-weary, and bewildered, and heart-sick.

1988 AAP Newsfeed (Nexis) 7 Dec. Woe-weary and sickened by the economic crisis, Hong Kong has launched its ‘Hong Kong Together’ campaign.

† woe-wedded adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1613 J. Davies Muses-teares C 3 When thou..Cam'st to espouse his Halfe; wo-wedded now!

1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Agamemnon in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 255 On its woe-wedded [Gk. αἰνόλεκτρον] Paris' hated head.

1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas II. 86 'Tis the cry he will deem, and none other, Of Procne, the woe-wedded mother.

C5.

† woe-cross-wounded adj. Obsolete rare pierced through with woe; cf. cross-wounded adj. at cross- comb. form 2.

ΚΠ

1609 J. Davies Holy Roode sig. F2 Comfort..Her woe-crosse-wounded Heart.

† woe-heart n. Obsolete rare a cause of sorrow or distress; cf. sense D. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > [noun]

sorrowOE

ail?c1225

scorpion?c1225

dolec1290

angera1325

anguishc1330

cupa1340

aggrievancea1400

discomfortc1405

afflictionc1429

sytec1440

pressurea1500

constraint1509

tenterhook1532

grief1535

annoying1566

troubler1567

griper1573

vexation1588

infliction1590

trouble1591

temptationc1595

load1600

torment1600

wringer1602

sorance1609

inflicting1611

brusha1616

freighta1631

woe-heart1637

ordeala1658

cut-up1782

unpleasure1792

iron maiden1870

mental cruelty1899

1637 S. Rutherford Let. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) 252 To harden..our soft and thin skinned nature to endure fire and water.., losses, woe hearts.

1639 S. Rutherford Let. 1 Oct. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) 477 I hope, Christ, when he married you, married you and all the crosses & woe-hearts that follow you.

woe-monger n. a person who promotes or spreads woe; a doom-monger.

ΚΠ

1842 Fraser's Mag. Nov. 515/1 Incurable woemongers in verse and prose.

1927 Daily Express 1 June 8/2 We have no use for the pessimists, no patience with the woe-mongers.

2015 Afr. News (Nexis) 3 Apr. Many of those stocks had been held down by activities of woe-mongers.

woe trumpet n. each of the three trumpets sounded by angels to herald the coming of the three divine afflictions described in Revelation 9, comprising the final three of the seven angelic trumpets of Revelation 8–9; (also) each of these afflictions.

ΚΠ

1643 R. More in tr. J. Mede Key Revelation Compend. sig. Ss2 The..first woe Trumpet, sendeth the hostile bands of Saracens,..in the Type of Locusts.

1790 P. Burton Seven Prophetical Periods 174 The first woe commenced with the fifth trumpet, and lasted from the year 568 to 1281, when the sixth trumpet, or second woe trumpet began.

1826 E. Irving Babylon I. iii. 196 We expect the seventh trumpet, the last of the three woe trumpets.

1921 J. H. McConkey Bk. Revelation 50 Let not the reader perplex himself as to how far such things as the locust horde, and the two hundred million horsemen of these woe trumpets are literal or symbolic.

2011 R. B. Burns Be not Deceived (Rev. viii. 7) 141 The Woe Trumpets..are expressly said to be inflicted upon men.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	woe
释义	woeint.adv.n.adj. Brit. /wəʊ/, U.S. /woʊ/ Forms: 1. α. Old English uua, Old English (Northumbrian)–early Middle English (south-west midlands) wæ, Old English–Middle English wa, Old English (Middle English chiefly northern) waa, early Middle English þa (transmission error), early Middle English va, Middle English we, Middle English wee, Middle English whe, 1500s (archaic) 1800s (Manx English) wae; English regional (northern) 1700s–1800s wa, 1700s–1800s wae, 1700s–1800s weea, 1800s waa, 1800s weah, 1800s wee, 1800s weha; Scottish pre-1700 ua, pre-1700 va, pre-1700 waav, pre-1700 wast (as adjective, superlative), pre-1700 waw, pre-1700 1700s–1800s wa, pre-1700 1700s–1800s wea, pre-1700 1700s– wae, 1900s we (Shetland). β. Old English weg (in compounds), late Old English (in compounds)–Middle English wei, early Middle English waȝȝ ( Ormulum), early Middle English wai, early Middle English wæi (south-west midlands, in compounds), Middle English wey, Middle English weye, Middle English–1500s way; English regional (northern) 1600s 1800s weay, 1800s way; Scottish pre-1700 vay, pre-1700 way, 1800s–1900s wai, 1900s– wey (Shetland). γ. early Middle English wao (south-west midlands), early Middle English wuo, Middle English mo (transmission error), Middle English vo, Middle English who, Middle English woa, Middle English wooe, Middle English–1500s whoo, Middle English–1500s woo, Middle English– wo (archaic and poetic in later use), Middle English– woe, 1600s whoe; also Scottish pre-1700 uo, pre-1700 vo, pre-1700 voo, pre-1700 woo, pre-1700 wow. 2. Combined (occasionally in contracted form) with a following word. a. With me. early Middle English womme, early Middle English wume, early Middle English wumme. b. With is. 1500s–1600s woes, 1500s– woe's; English regional (northern) 1500s–1600s waies, 1700s wae's, 1700s weas, 1800s waes, 1800s weeas, 1800s wees; Scottish pre-1700 waies, pre-1700 wais, pre-1700 waiss, pre-1700 wayes, pre-1700 wayis, pre-1700 ways, pre-1700 wois, pre-1700 wys, pre-1700 1700s–1800s waes, 1700s– wae's, 1900s– weys. See also wannowe int., wasteheart int. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch wee (Dutch wee), Old Saxon wē (Middle Low German wē), Old High German wē (Middle High German wē, German weh, also wehe), Old Icelandic vei (also væ), Old Swedish, Swedish ve, Old Danish we, ve (Danish ve), Gothic wai < a Germanic base cognate with or formed similarly to classical Latin vae, Early Irish fae, fé, Welsh gwae, Lithuanian vai, Albanian vaj, and (with later alteration) Avestan avōi, vayōi. (Ancient Greek ὀᾶ, Hellenistic Greek οὐά, οὐᾶ, οὐαί, and Armenian vay apparently represent new formations.) The Germanic base is also the source of the following exclamations in Romance languages: Old French and Anglo-Norman guai, wai (c1000), Catalan guai (13th cent.), Spanish guay (13th cent.), Italian guai (c1224). A common Indo-European interjection, used as a natural exclamation of lament, ultimately of imitative origin, and probably independently re-formed at different times. Similar expressions of grief or distress are attested in several non-Indo-European languages.Use as adverb, noun, and adjective. Use of the interjection adverbially with the dative, both in prophetic or denunciatory utterances and in declarative statements of distress or affliction (compare sense B.), has many parallels in Indo-European languages, and is clearly a syntactic construction of great antiquity; compare classical Latin vae tibi sit ‘may woe befall you’, vae victīs ‘woe to the vanquished’, etc., and see further J. Barðdal et al. in Jrnl. Indo-European Stud. 41 (2013) 321–77. Use as noun (which probably arose through such constructions as that in Phrases 1) is common in Germanic, in which a morphologically distinct noun form is also attested (in contrast to the forms cited above, which belong primarily to the interjection and adverb) derived from a reduplicated form of the same base, compare Old English wēa (weak masculine), also the doublet form wāwa wowe n., Old Dutch wēwa (Middle Dutch wēwe ), Middle Low German wēwe , Old High German wēwo (masculine), wēwa (feminine) (Middle High German wē (genitive wēwes ), strong neuter, wēwe , weak masculine, strong and weak feminine); the reduplicated Germanic base was apparently also borrowed into Finnish as vaiva trouble, pain, affliction. Otherwise, the original interjectional forms are used as nouns. For the development of use as adjective (also paralleled in Dutch and German) see note at sense D. Use in compounds. Old English wēa (noun) is a frequent element in compounds in the sense ‘that which is grievous, evil, or bad’, as wēa-cwānian to lament, wail (compare quain v.¹), wēadǣd evil deed (compare deed n.), wēamōd ill-humoured, angry (see wemod adj.), wēaspell evil tidings (compare spell n.¹), wēaþearf grievous need (compare tharf n.), etc.; compare also early Middle English weasiþ (also weisið ) affliction, trouble, misery (compare sithe n.¹). Compounding (of the interjectional forms) is also attested in other Germanic languages, e.g. Old High German wēwurt evil fate, misfortune (compare weird n.), Old Icelandic veill ailing, wretched ( < ve-heill ; compare hail adj.), Gothic waidēdja* evildoer ( < waidēþs ; compare Old English wēadǣd* above, and to do (a person) woe at Phrases 1), etc. Partially disguised compounds and derivatives are wellaway int., wail v., wone v. Notes on forms. The γ. forms show regular rounding of early Middle English ā to long open ō in southern and midland varieties, ultimately giving rise to the modern standard form woe; forms such as wooe, whoo, woo show further raising of Middle English open ō to close ō as a result of the influence of preceding w (compare forms of woad n.¹). In northern Middle English and Older Scots, forms with ā (and its reflexes) are continued (see α. forms and compare modern Scots wae ). Middle English (chiefly south-west midland) forms of the noun such as wæ, we at α. forms probably reflect Old English wēa (noun). With the Middle English forms we, whe at α. forms (as interjection) compare we int. The Old English forms weg, (late) wei at β. forms are attested only in combination with another interjection (compare weila int., and β. forms at wellaway int. and n.) and originally probably represent an expressive alteration of wā (compare Old English egele , eglā , eglāeg , alterations of ēalā : see a int.¹). Later β. forms (in Middle English) probably partly continue the Old English forms and partly reflect early Scandinavian borrowing (compare Old Icelandic vei ); some northern Middle English and Older Scots β. forms probably show reverse spellings of α. forms (after the merger of ā and ai). A. int. 1. Used to express grief, pity, regret, disappointment, or concern. Often reduplicated, or in combination with another interjection, as ah or lo (see wale int., wellaway int.); cf. waesucks int. Now archaic.In quot. eOE at α. in combination with a form of Old English ēa (see a int.¹).In β. forms recorded earliest in wellaway int. 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > cry of grief > [interjection] > specific cry of grief woeeOE wellawayeOE weilac1000 wellawayOE wellaOE woe is meOE wummec1175 wia1200 outa1225 alas?c1225 walec1275 ac1300 whilec1402 ochonea1425 wellesay?1440 wannowec1450 helas1484 ah1509 ocha1522 ah me!a1547 wougha1556 eh1569 welladay1570 how1575 wellanear1581 ay me!1591 lasa1593 wella, welladay1601 good lack!1638 oime1660 pillaloo1663 wellanearing1683 lack-a-day1695 wasteheart1695 walya1724 lackadaisy1748 ochree1748 waesucks1773 well-a-winsa1774 ullagone1819 wirra1825 mavrone1827 wirrasthru1827 ototoi1877 wurra1898 α. eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 8/1 Ua, euwa. c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 189 (MED) Þe childer of Iral cridyn ‘wa wa’. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 764 At hir he speryt giff scho forthocht it sar. ‘Wa, ȝa!’ scho said. c1535 M. Nisbet New Test. in Scots (1901) I. 7 Christ cryis wa our the Phariseis, scribis and ypocritis. 1602 ( D. Lindsay Satyre (Charteris) sig. D2 Out of Scotland wa alace, I haif bene fleimit lang tyme space. 1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 2nd Bk. Wks. vi. 33 Haw, my thropple, the bean of my cragg is bruck: haw, for gauads seck..Mawster; waw, waw, waw. β. eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xxiv. 491 Weilawei [lOE Bodl. wilawei], hwæt Orpheus ða lædde his wif mid him.c1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 52 Wai hwi noldestu er of þisse beon icnowe?c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6446 Awey [a1400 Trin. Cambr. awai] seli ȝonge þinges, frendles were hii þere.c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 188 Awei to sone he hit forles.a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. 15879 Cried he neyþer wo ne way, But ded he was, & þer he lay.γ. c1350 Ayenbite (1866) App. 265 Wo hy gredeþ.?1387 T. Wimbledon Serm. (Corpus Cambr.) (1967) 126 Wo, wo, wo, how grete beþ þes derkenessis.a1450 Lessons of Dirige (Digby) l. 366 in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 119 (MED) Allas, oure synnes..say, ‘wo, wo, wo!’1566 J. Pits Poore Mannes Beneuolence sig. B.j Then is he lyke to fall on pricke, which wyll make him crie wo.1619 A. D. B. Court of Iames, I 52 Oh woe! oh shame; alas,..what tongue is able to expresse, how..greiuous it is?1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe v. 76 Ah wo, wo, wo! the worst of woes I find!1729 G. Adams tr. Sophocles Antigone v. iv, in tr. Sophocles Trag. II. 72 Wo! and wo! Again, thou hast ruined an unhappy Man.1805 R. Southey Madoc ii. xxvi. 419 Again the ominous warner cried, Woe! woe! the Cycle of the Years is full!1854 C. Patmore Betrothal in Angel in House 126 And if, ah woe, she loves alone.1921 Forum Sept. 259 ‘Woe, oh, woe!’ was his sad refrain.2003 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 11 Dec. t46 Woe and alas and cue the rending of hair and gnashing of teeth! 2. With following clause or phrase expressing the object of the lament. Now archaic and literary. ΚΠ a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 21 O, seið þus þe boc, wei þet he eure hit wule iþenche in his þonke. a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Wa þet ic am swa fremede wiþ þe. c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 120 Wai [a1300 Jesus Oxf. way] þat hi nis þar of bireued. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) 3996 Wei þat ich nadde bi war. a1425 in Poems L. Minot (1914) App. ii. 104 We for his Ending! c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 81 (MED) ‘Who, sonnis, lifers,’ seiþ þe Lord, ‘þat ȝe schuld mak a counseil and not of me.’ a1555 J. Bradford in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 297 Then shall they crye woe, woe, that euer they dyd as they haue done. 1641 J. Andrewes Golden Trumpet iv. sig. B3^v Woe, woe, that euer we were borne. a1720 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers (1722) vi. 336 Wo that ever I was Father to such wicked Children. 1829 T. K. Hervey Poet. Sketch-bk. 137 Oh, woe! that such a withering word, From lips so dear, should e'er be heard! 1918 W. Irwin Hamadryads (new ed.) in P. Garnett Grove Plays Bohemian Club I. 61 Ah, woe that he should fall. 2008 R. Earle Nights in Pink Motel xxxvi. 220 Woe, woe, that she should have said such a thing. B. adv. With a dative (or, later, with to, noun, or objective pronoun as complement), with or without a verb of being or happening, in sentences expressing the occurrence of distress, misfortune, or grief. Now archaic.Arising as an adverbial use of the interjection (see sense A.) with the dative, although in later use probably often interpreted as a noun (cf. e.g. quots. 1938 at sense B. 1, 2010 at sense B. 3a). Now only in fossilized use (in e.g. woe is me at Phrases 2) and archaic use. 1. In prophetic or denunciatory utterances of the type of Old English wā biþ þǣm mannum ‘affliction or grief shall be the lot of the men’ (cf. quot. OE²); woe be to us ‘may distress or misfortune afflict us’; woe is him ‘cursed is he’. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > affliction or distress [interjection] woeOE the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [noun] > state or condition of drearinessa1000 woeOE sorrinessOE sorrowfulnessa1250 heavinessc1275 sorrownessc1300 dreariheada1325 moanc1390 sadnessc1400 grievedness1571 ruthfulness1596 mournfulness1633 waila1682 drearihood1817 woebegoneness1841 tristfulness1847 the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene > imprecations woeOE dahetc1290 confoundc1330 foul (also shame) fall ——c1330 sorrow on——c1330 in the wanianda1352 wildfirea1375 evil theedomc1386 a pestilence on (also upon)c1390 woe betide you (also him, her, etc.)c1390 maldathaita1400 murrainc1400 out ona1415 in the wild waning worldc1485 vengeance?a1500 in a wanion1549 with a wanion1549 woe worth1553 a plague on——a1566 with a wanion to?c1570 with a wanyand1570 bot1584 maugre1590 poxa1592 death1593 rot1594 rot on1595 cancro1597 pax1604 pize on (also upon)1605 vild1605 peascod1606 cargo1607 confusion1608 perditiona1616 (a) pest upon1632 deuce1651 stap my vitals1697 strike me blind, dumb, lucky (if, but—)1697 stop my vitals1699 split me (or my windpipe)1700 rabbit1701 consume1756 capot me!1760 nick me!1760 weary set1788 rats1816 bad cess to1859 curse1885 hanged1887 buggeration1964 OE Beowulf (2008) 183 Wa bið þæm ðe sceal þurh sliðne nið sawle bescufan in fyres fæþm. OE Blickling Homilies 61 Wa biþ þonne þæm mannum þe ne ongytaþ þisse worlde yrmþa, þe hie to gesceapene beoþ. c1175 ( Homily in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 132 (MED) Wa byð weorldscry[f]tum [OE Vercelli wa is woruldesciriftum] buton heo mid rihte ræden & tæcæn. a1350 (a1250) Harrowing of Hell (Harl.) (1907) 102 Wo ys him þat þe knowe ne shal! a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1659 Sche seide: ‘Ha treson, wo thee be’. a1425 (?c1300) Northern Passion (Cambr. Gg.5.31) 249 Who be þat man At þat treson fyrst began. c1475 (?c1451) Bk. Noblesse (Royal) (1860) 41 Heh allas!..and woo be the tyme they saide, that ever we shulde put..trust to the Frenshe partie. a1533 J. Frith Mirroure (?1536) ii. sig. A vii Woo be to them that couple and knytte houses to gether. 1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xvi. sig. H.iv^v Bacon is good for carters and plowmen,..but & yf they haue the stone..they shall synge wo be the pye. 1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 187 Way is the Hirdis of Israell That feidis nocht Christis flock. 1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. I1 Woe were vs, if wee were at the rule and gouernement of creatures. 1636 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo: Contemplatio Mortis (rev. ed.) 162 Woe is him whose bed is made in hell. 1680 in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 45 246 Woes us that we can nether shew nor receive kindness without danger. 1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. liii. 322 Woe be to the villain, if he recollect not this! 1781 J. Tucker Treat. Civil Govt. ii. ii.150 Woe be to the Country, which happens to be cursed with a successive Race of Heroes. a1863 F. W. Faber Hymns (1894) Thou are welcome, thrice welcome:—yet woe is the day! 1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley I. xi. 151 But woe is him, if a nasty foe..smite him to the quick. 1938 Rotarian July 2/2 But woe be to us as adults if we continue to preach the old ‘emotional pap’. 2000 M. J. Chandler et al. in L. P. Nucci et al. Culture, Thought, & Devel. iv. 65 If your cultural practices have been criminalized..then woe be on you and your chances of declaring your personal existence as having any worthwhile or enduring meaning. 2. In merely declarative statements of the type of Old English him bið (or is) wā ‘he will be (or is) distressed, afflicted, or sorrowful’; Middle English him is (full) wo ‘he is (greatly) distressed or sorrowful’. Now only in woe is me at Phrases 2; see also sense D. 1c.In quot. eOE with the source of distress in the genitive. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > [adverb] > suffering mental pain woeeOE eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iii. vii. 63 Þæm folce wæs ægþres waa, ge þæt hie þæt mæste yfel forberan sceoldon, ge eac þæt hie his sciran ne dorstan. lOE Distichs of Cato (Trin. Cambr.) xxxix, in Anglia (1972) 90 10 Ne wurðe þe næfre to þys wa, þæt ðu þe ne wene betran, forþon þe se wena þe ne forlæt næfre forweorðan. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11904 Himm wass waȝȝ. & ange. Off þatt he nohht ne wisste off crist. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 76 Me is wa þet þu hit wast. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 832 Swa swiðe wa [c1300 Otho wo] him was þat al his wit he for-læs. c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 209 Him was ful wo þan on is þoȝt & ofte sekede amonge. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3749 Me es sua waa, almast i weede. c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 2684 (MED) Be all þe welthe of þe werlde, so woo was þem neuer! ?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 816 Cuthbert sawe, him was full wa. ?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 518 (MED) Mayster, ryght woo me is Þat ye þis harme hawe hadde. 3. Without verb, with the sense ‘woe be on’ or ‘woe betide’ a person or thing. a. With dative (or later, with to, †unto, or noun or objective pronoun as complement).In quot. eOE with the source of distress in the genitive. ΚΠ eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xlix. 379 Waa me ðæs ic swigode! OE Blickling Homilies 25 Wa eow þe nu hlihaþ, forþon ge eft wepað on ecnesse. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xviii. 7 Wa þysum middangearde þurh swicdomas. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 19 Wa hem ðatt hie æure iscapene waren. c1275 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 184 (MED) Al so seide bede: ‘Wo þere þeode.’ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. viii. 13 I..herde the voys of an egle..seiynge..Wo! wo! wo! to the dwellinge men in erthe. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 6752 (MED) Wo the while, he was a thief! c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 139 Woo to vs ȝif we wole folewe hym that wolde sette his fete in the hille of lordschippe. c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 55 (MED) Woo to me for I haue be stille, for I am a man pollutid in lippis. ?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 855 in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 84 Woo the whyle that bargayn I dyd euer make! 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Cor. ix. B And wo vnto me [1611 woe is vnto me], yff I preach not the Gospell. 1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F3 Then woe mine eyes vnlesse they beautie see. 1615 Lady Eleanor Warning to Dragon 17 I commanded, Iudgement should runne downe free as water, and Righteousnesse as a mighty streame; Woe the Bloody Citie. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 108 Wo to him, that in the desart Land Of Lybia travels. View more context for this quotation 1721 A. Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 25 Wae to that hand that dares..Defile the stream. 1796 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum V. 414 Now wae to thee thou cruel lord, A bludy man I trow thou be. 1829 K. H. Digby Broad Stone of Honour: Godefridus xvii. 205 But woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead. 1842 E. Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni i. ii. 11 Woe to thine ears hadst thou heard the barbiton that night! 1928 Steubenville (Ohio) Herald-Star 20 Oct. 6/2 Were that curbed, next would come restrictions on the press, Woe the day! 2010 N.Y. Times 22 Jan. c12/2 Woe to the grouchy sports hero who dares to tell children to stop believing in magic. b. With on, upon, †for. Now rare (archaic and humorous). ΚΠ 1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes iii. xi. f. 172^v/1 Woe on that realme, where the pacient are despised. 1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion vi. 91 Woe for thee Faire Elstred, that thou should'st thy fairer Sabrine see,..the prey to her sterne rage. 1672 J. Phillips Maronides 41 But wo for him in time of need, The more the hast, the worse the speed. 1745 C. Cibber Papal Tyranny v. 61 Depart This Land—or Woe on thy rebellious Head. 1794 W. P. Carey Appeal to People of Ireland 44 Woe upon the head of the luckless individual..who attempts to speak. 1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward III. vii. 173 Some articles we will minute down with which he shall comply, or woe on his head! 1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxvi. 113 Oh, woe for them..when they shall wake! a1895 E. Field Ballad of Taylor Pup in Songs & Other Verse (1896) 180 Woe, woe on Annie's India mull, And Sissy's blue percale! 1917 P. Worth Sorry Tale 218 He should off and ne'er shew him unto the eyes of Jacob, or woe upon him! 1934 D. Thomas Let. May in Love Lett. (2001) 35 Woe on the sun that he bloody well shines not. C. n. 1. a. (a) A state or condition of misery, suffering, or emotional distress; misfortune, trouble. Chiefly poetic and literary. Now also in humorous or hyperbolical use; cf. tale of woe at Phrases 5.In quot. a1425 personified. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [noun] unselthc888 ermtheOE unselea1023 wellawayOE wretchhead1154 wandrethc1175 woec1175 wanea1200 wretchdom?c1225 yomernessc1250 balec1275 un-i-selec1275 wan-siðc1275 unseelinessa1300 wretchedheada1300 cursedness1303 wretcheddomc1320 wrechea1325 wretchnessa1330 tribulationc1330 wretchednessa1340 caitifty1340 meeknessa1382 unwealsomeness1382 infelicityc1384 caitifhedea1400 ill liking?a1400 sorea1400 ungleea1400 unweala1400 caitifnessc1400 deploration1490 caitifdoma1500 woefulnessa1513 misery1527 miserity1533 mishappinessa1542 unwealfulnessa1555 tribulance1575 miserableness1613 agony1621 desolatenessa1626 unblissa1628 unhappiness1722 misère1791 shadow1855 valley1882 miz1918 society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > types of narrative or story generally > [noun] > sad woea1425 passional1568 c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 897 Baþehemm fell to þolenn wa Þurrh ifell wifess irre. c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Royal) (1938) 38 (MED) Ih am siker ine godd þet ne schal lif ne deð, ne wa ne wunne [a1250 Titus ne wa ne pine] nowðer, todealen us ant his luue. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 237 Issa was hire firste name..Siðen ghe brocte us to woa, Adam gaf hire name eua. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 22472 Quar-to sold we be born to-day, Quen al þing sal com to way? a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4995 With hir labour and travaile Logged ben with sorwe and woo. c1480 (a1400) St. Thomas Apostle 250 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 136 He vald firste quyke þam fla, & bryne þame syne in doile & va. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccccxxxiv. 308 b/2 The capitayne..had dayly great payne and wo to defende their towne. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 3 The Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe . View more context for this quotation 1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 160 Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow, And quite forgot their vices in their woe. 1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. x. 243 A screech-owl denouncing some deed of terror and of woe. 1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades i. 24 Self-inflicted death and age-long woe. 1935 Princeton Alumni Weekly 13 Dec. 290/3 The Philadelphia Record is his fosterer, feeder, and friend in time of woe. 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer 9 Feb. a1/1 During lulls on the graveyard shift, she would complain to coworkers, spreading a wet blanket of woe on their coffee break. (b) Paired or contrasted with weal. Cf. weal n.¹ 2b.Now most common in Asian English, esp. Chinese usage. ΚΠ a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 216 A fruit ðe kenned wel and wo. a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) 3428 Þere his folk conne wel or weye Him to fore nys bote teȝ. a1450 (?c1405) in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 24 (MED) God haþ lent ȝow discrecioun Boþe of wele and of woo. c1480 (a1400) St. George 235 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 182 Fore wele na way of þis place sal I nocht ga. 1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 182 Greit cause thay haif for till repent, Zot will thay nocht do so, Nouther for weill nor wo. 1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah xii. 257 Let there come vpon vs weale or woe,..we are dull and insensible. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 133 All this will soon Follow, as to him linkt in weal or woe . View more context for this quotation 1735 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 728/1 The chusing of a wife Is certain weal, or woe for life. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms i. 351 Whate'er betide of weal or woe. 1860 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands I. vi. 299 Two important commonwealths, upon whose action..the weal and wo of Christendom was hanging. 1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. ix. 169 Future centuries may see the breaking down, for weal or woe, of many cultural barriers. 2013 Global Times (China) (Nexis) 14 Nov. China's leadership and its people are bound to share weal and woe together. b. A cause of misfortune, trouble, or sorrow. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [noun] > misfortune or ill-luck > causing or bringing misfortune > one who or that which foota1225 woea1300 infortunec1405 infortunate1558 jettatura1822 bad medicine1857 hoodoo1882 voodoo1902 jinx1911 mock1911 mocker1923 kiss of death1948 a1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Vitell.) (1966) l. 187 (MED) Þat is ȝet mi meste wo, Ȝif ich hit finde & hit forgo. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 2600 (MED) I am geld; þat es me wa. c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1176 My wele, my woo, my paradise, my lyvis sustenaunce! 1578 T. Blenerhasset 2nd Pt. Mirrour for Magistrates Sigebert f. 45 Welth is my woe, the causer of my care. 1672 J. Howard All Mistaken i. 6 Her hate shall seem my Joy; which is my Woe. 1704 Poems on Affairs of State III. 393 Should this Unchristian bitter Bill succeed, 'Twould be a Woe to Hypocrites indeed. 1828 G. S. Faber Sacred Cal. Prophecy III. v. ii. 103 According to the one prediction, the Turks cease to be a woe to the Roman Empire very shortly after the year 1690. 1899 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Aug. 220 I am humble, and timid, and small—small, that's my woe. 1939 G. Santayana Let. 16 Aug. (2004) VI. 258 Foreigners have almost ceased to come here:..a woe for the hotel-keepers. c. An instance of misfortune; an affliction; a trouble, a problem. Now usually in plural.In Middle English also spec.: an affliction sent by God; a plague. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > [noun] sorec888 teeneOE sorrowOE workOE wrakeOE careOE gramec1000 harmOE howc1000 trayOE woweOE angec1175 derfnessc1175 sytec1175 unwinc1175 wosithc1200 ail?c1225 barrat?c1225 derf?c1225 grief?c1225 misease?c1225 misliking?c1225 ofthinkingc1225 passion?c1225 troublec1230 pinec1275 distress1297 grievancea1300 penancea1300 cumbermentc1300 languorc1300 cumbering1303 were1303 angera1325 strifea1325 sweama1325 woea1325 painc1330 tribulationc1330 illa1340 threst1340 constraintc1374 troublenessc1380 afflictiona1382 bruisinga1382 miseasetya1382 pressurec1384 exercisec1386 miscomfortc1390 mislikea1400 smarta1400 thronga1400 balec1400 painfulnessc1400 troublancec1400 smartness?c1425 painliness1435 perplexity?a1439 penalty?1462 calamity1490 penality1496 cumber?a1513 sussy1513 tribule1513 afflict?1529 vexation of spirit1535 troublesomeness1561 hoe1567 grievedness1571 tribulance1575 languishment1576 thrall1578 tine1590 languorment1593 aggrievedness1594 obturbation1623 afflictedness1646 erumny1657 pathos1684 shock1705 dree1791 vex1815 wrungnessa1875 dukkha1886 thinkache1892 sufferation1976 the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > circumstance or occurrence plightc1300 woea1325 fanda1400 afflictionc1429 assayc1430 brier?1504 trouble?1521 distress1549 smarts1552 say?1572 infliction1590 disaccommodation1645 trial1754 ordeal1807 time1809 kill-cow1825 Via Crucis1844 Via Dolorosa1844 racket1877 pisser1957 a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 69 Pride made angel deuel dwale, Ðat made ilc sorge and euerilc bale And euerilc wunder and euerilc wo. c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 85 (MED) Þan endeþ þat oþer woo; And þe þrid woo shal sone come. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. ix. 12 Oo woo passid, and lo! ȝit comen two wos. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 4592 (MED) Ware þai so wyse þat has waes, qua ware so wide praysed As þa þat lepros ere & lame þat neuire of leth knewe? 1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 36 All the wois that Ouid in Ibin Into his pretty lytill buik did wryte. 1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 18 One woe makes another woe seeme lesse. 1642 J. Taylor Mad Fashions sig. A2^v Those Rebells that doe breed her [sc. Ireland] woes. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 604 Latinus tears his Garments as he goes, Both for his publick, and his private Woes. 1714 E. Young Force of Relig. i. 258 Now she revolves within her anxious mind, What woe still lingers in reserve behind. 1763 Rural Conf. 11 Civic woes concern not rustic swains. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. xii. 152 Who has not been touched with the woes of his lovely and gentle queen, subjected by him to a trial of life and death, on a false charge of infidelity? 1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 28 Great Ossa..lay Like the foreboding of a coming woe. 1920 Discovery May 146 The most fundamental cause of all our present economic woes. 2015 Bristol Post (Nexis) 30 July 10 The only solution to this catalogue of woes is for the Mayor to introduce some form of parking restrictions. †2. The pain, punishment, or suffering thought to be endured by souls in hell or purgatory; (also) an instance of this. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > hell > [noun] > torment of Hell witec825 pineOE wormc1000 woec1175 painc1300 second deathc1384 penancec1395 burning marl1667 penancy1682 torment1852 c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1400 Forr whatt teȝȝ fellenn sone dun Off heoffne. & inn till helle. Till eche wa. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 209 To takenn ut off helle wa. Þa gode sawless alle. c1300 St. James Great (Laud) 77 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 36 Þou sendest us þare we gret wo i-fielde, In gret torment and brenningue. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 148 Þus þe deuel ydampned hys, And wyþ hym..Deuelen wel mo;..Moche hys þe pyne þat hem eyleþ, And eke þe who. ?c1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Arms) l. 754 (MED) To bowe and lyue wiþouten ende Or elles to dyȝe and to woo wende. a1450 ( in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 4 The more he dwelleth theryn long, To his soule he encreseth woo. 1578 W. Hilton in tr. Urbanus Regius Serm. Christ on Way to Emaus Ep. Ded. sig. A.vii Let not your..bodyes, so haue their willes..that your soules (which must aunswere for it) suffer woe, and payne. a1616 H. Airay Lect. Philipp. (1618) lxxiii. 859 The other suffered woe and torments in hell immediatly. a1665 G. Starkey Expos. Six Gates iii. 234 in Ripley Reviv'd (1678) To suffer all the pain and woe of this our Purgatory. a1711 T. Ken Preparatives for Death in Wks. (1721) IV. 117 Their Cure in Hell will soon be wrought; They'll wake, hear, see, feel endless Woe. 1781 Transl. & Paraphr. Sacred Script. (Gen. Assembly Church of Scotl.) xli. 68 Who looks to him with lively faith is sav'd from endless woes. 1838 Intellect. Repository Jan. 28 Having endured ages of woe in hell, it [sc. the soul] is to be brought to the bar..in order to see if its former ‘doom’ was just or not. †3. Physical pain or distress; disease; infirmity. Obsolete.Now merged in sense C. 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [noun] unhealc700 untrumnessc897 adleeOE sicknessc967 cothec1000 unhealthc1000 woe?a1200 ail?c1225 lying?c1225 maladyc1275 unsoundc1275 feebless1297 languora1375 languishc1384 disease1393 aegritudea1400 lamea1400 maleasea1400 soughta1400 wilc1400 malefaction?a1425 firmityc1426 unwholesomenessc1449 ill1450 languenta1500 distemperancea1535 the valley of the shadow of death1535 affect?1537 affection?1541 distemperature1541 inability1547 sickliness1565 languishment1576 cause1578 unhealthfulness1589 crazedness1593 languorment1593 evilness1599 strickenness1599 craziness1602 distemper1604 unsoundness1605 invaletude1623 unhealthiness1634 achaque1647 unwellness1653 disailment1657 insalubrity1668 faintiness1683 queerness1687 invalidity1690 illness1692 ill health1698 ailment1708 illing1719 invalescence1724 peakingness1727 sickishness1727 valetudinariness1742 ailingness1776 brash1786 invalidism1794 poorliness1814 diseasement1826 invalidship1830 valetudinarianism1839 ailing1862 invalidhood1863 megrims1870 pourriture1890 immersement1903 bug1918 condition1920 the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > [noun] sorec825 acheeOE wrakeOE trayOE woe?a1200 pinec1200 sorrowc1225 teenc1225 grievousness1303 dolec1320 balea1325 painc1330 warkingc1340 dolour?c1370 sufferance1422 offencea1425 angerc1440 sufferingc1450 penalty?1462 penality1496 grief1509 stress1533 sufferance1597 somatalgia1607 suffering1609 tort1632 miserya1825 ?a1200 ( tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Harl. 6258B) cxviii. 161 Þi ðriddan dæȝe hit þar sor binimeð & æl wo ȝehæleð. [No direct equivalent in Old English MSS.] ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 163 He lette ham þolien wa inoch. hunger. þurst. & Muche swinc. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 1918 He was..pur mesel þo, & he bicom in is baptizinge hol of al is wo. c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 91 Woo and sorenes of þe entrelles wasted..a greet nombre. a1425 (?c1300) Northern Passion (Cambr. Gg.5.31) 49 Þai..dyd hym tyll pyne and waa And euyr þai thoght hym for to slaa. c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) 1033 A litil wetinge of watur his wo wol amende. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 115^v (MED) It sueþ wheþir it [sc. canker] be kutt al aweye or y-left stille, it bringiþ wo & sorowe to þe pacient. 4. Sorrow, grief, anguish (as a state of mind or feeling). rare in later use except as merged in sense C. 1a. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > [noun] tintreghc893 threat971 piningOE murderOE anguish?c1225 woea1250 pinec1275 tormentc1290 languorc1300 heartbreakc1330 surcarkingc1330 martyrement1340 threst1340 agonyc1384 martyrdomc1384 tormentryc1386 martyre?a1400 tormentisec1405 rack?a1425 anguishing1433 angorc1450 anguishnessa1475 torture?c1550 heartsickness1556 butchery1582 heartache1587 anguishment1592 living hell1596 discruciation1597 heart-aching1607 throeing1615 rigour1632 crucifixion1648 lancination1649 bosom-hell1674 heart-rending1707 brain-racking1708 tormentation1789 bosom-throe1827 angoisse1910 a1250 Lofsong Louerde in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 213 (MED) Iblesced beo þet þus went lure to biȝeate; sikerliche al mi woa on eorðe schal turnen me to ioie ȝif ich Godd luuie mid treowe bileaue. c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 263 Heo louede so horn child Þat neȝ heo gan wexe wild..In heorte heo hadde wo. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1483 Neiȝh wod of witte for woo of þat sawe. ?a1430 T. Hoccleve Mother of God l. 57 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 54 Tendrely remembre on the wo & peyne Þat thow souffridist in his passioun. ?a1500 Court of Love (Trin. Cambr. R.3.19) l. 256 in K. Forni Chaucerian Apocrypha (2005) ‘For soth’, quod she, ‘thay waylen of theire woo.’ c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 23^v Mony wyues for woo of þere wit past. 1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) 66 My hairt, tak nowdir pane nor wa, For Meg, for Meriory, or ȝit Mawis. 1620 J. Taylor Jack a Lent (new ed.) sig. C2 The poore Curres..stinke for woe, for feare that another Lent is come sodainely vpon them. 1700 N. Tate & N. Brady Suppl. to New Version Psalms 14 Sinners at his triumph griev'd, Shall fret and gnash their Teeth for woe. 1790 Monitor 1 150 In pensive mood, with heartfelt woe, alone, appall'd I sat. 1812 Belfast Monthly Mag. Jan. 47/1 With no kind friend to soothe his heartfelt woe. 1917 M. Johnston Wanderers xii. 242 She had not before felt woe and sadness like this. 1968 L. Rosten Joys of Yiddish 273 ‘Oy vay!’..is used as an all-purpose ejaculation to express anything from trivial delight to abysmal woe. †5. Lamentation, mourning. Often in to make woe. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > [noun] carea1000 sorrowingOE meaninga1200 moan?c1225 mourning?c1225 plaint?c1225 ruthc1225 weimerc1230 mean?c1250 sorrow?c1250 dolec1290 plainingc1300 woec1300 dolourc1320 mourna1350 waymentingc1350 penancec1380 complaintc1384 lamentationc1384 complainingc1385 moaninga1400 waiminga1400 waymenta1400 waymentationc1400 dillc1420 merourec1429 plainc1475 regratec1480 complainc1485 regretc1500 lamenting1513 doleance1524 deploration1533 deplorement1593 condolement1602 regreeting1606 imploration1607 pother1638 dolinga1668 moanification1827 dolence1861 c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 465 Godard herde here wa, Ther-offe yaf he nouth a stra. c1330 Sir Orfeo (Auch.) (1966) l. 195 Þo was þer criing, wepe, & wo. c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) l. 2361 Michel woo and grete wailynges Was made. a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 1057 Ffor shame! why makest þou al this wo? ?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 52 I haif a watter spunge for wa within my wyde clokis. Than wring I it full wylely and wetis my chekis. 1586 W. Warner Albions Eng. i. ii. 4 It was a woe to heare their woe. 1634 M. Casaubon tr. M. Aurelius Meditations xi. 190 Thou doest take on grievously, or makest great woe. 6. An utterance of the word ‘woe’ in denunciation or condemnation; an anathema, a curse.Frequently in biblical contexts. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > malediction > [noun] cursea1050 malisonc1300 woea1425 evil thee1509 thunderbolt1559 vae1559 thunder-crack1577 ban1590 wish1597 anathema1603 imprecation1603 execration1605 thunder-clap1610 deprecationa1661 effulminationa1670 Maranatha1769 winze1786 cuss1829 sailor's blessing1876 blessing1878 sailor's farewell1937 a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 379 Crist telliþ eiȝte woos to þese Farisees..for þei disseyven his puple. Þe first woo þat Crist seiþ is teld on þis maner, [etc.]. c1475 MS Trin. Dublin 245 in J. H. Todd Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) p. xi Her enden the eighte woois that God wishid to freris. Amen. 1546 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 1st Pt. f. 75 He went fearcelye vpon them with wo vpon wo. 1637 S. Rutherford Let. 10 Aug. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) 341 There is a woe, woe to him by whom offences come: This woe came out of Christ's mouth. 1657 T. Aylesbury Treat. Confession of Sinne vii. 146 A necessity is laid upon us with a woe and an Anathema, if we come not to confession. 1738 G. Whitefield Great Duty of Family Relig. 8 We cannot but pronounce a Woe against those masters by whom such offences come. 1791 O. S. Cooper 400 Texts Holy Script. 39 The four woes relate to the four blessings before mentioned. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian x, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 246 She bore a male-child, under circumstances which added treble bitterness to the woe denounced against our original mother. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands viii. 228 The woe..pronounced by the Saviour—that woe so literally fulfilled. 1908 Trans. 3rd Internat. Congr. Hist. Relig. 2 325 What else can we gather from the Woes upon Chorazin and Bethsaida? 2010 M. McKenna Tasting Word of God 343 He [sc. Jesus] gives the four blessings and the four woes that bind others to him:..woes for the wealthy, the secure and full, [etc.]. D. adj. (originally and chiefly predicative).This use developed by a process common to the history of impersonal expressions in which an original dative was converted into a nominative; me is wo became I am wo, as me longeth became I long. Hence, often difficult to distinguish from sense B. 2 in Middle English. 1. Full of sorrow, grief, or misery; mournful, sad. a. Of the heart, soul, etc. Cf. wasteheart int. In later use chiefly Scottish. Now rare.Some early examples may represent sense B. 2 (see note at sense D.). ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective] > specifically of the heart woea1200 a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 149 (MED) Wuo is mi soule þat ich bide here swo longe. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) ll. 12440 For-soþ myne hert is wa. 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) xx. 196 Than war thair hertis all so wa. 1529 in J. Wilson Ann. Hawick (1850) 27 But Scotland's heart was ne'er sae wae, To see sae mony brave men die. 1591 M. Drayton Harmonie of Church sig. D Oh holy blessed Sion hill! my heart is woe for thee. 1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 266 How woe my hart was. c1660 S. Rutherford Christ & Doves 12 They rise many times off their Knees from Prayer with a woe heart. 1728 A. Ramsay Anacreontic on Love 11 With his complaint my soul grew wae. 1786 R. Burns Twa Dogs xiii, in Poems 14 An' mony a time my heart's been wae. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 121 But, waes my heart, I had been tender a' the simmer. 1853 Pen & Pencil 29 Jan. 134 O wae's the heart When nought but that is left. 1894 R. Bridges A Robin iv She was not there, and my heart is woe. 1902 J. Lumsden Toorle 43 Naebody can catch trouts wi' a wae hairt an' tears, atweel! 1924 Quiver Apr. 592/1 My heart is wae for you. 1990 J. A. Begg in J. A. Begg & J. Reid Dipper & Three Wee Deils 24 Nou wae's the herts o daunerin men Harkin back whan they were boys, Tae hear the Connel Burn resoun Tae anither kin o noise. b. (a) Of a person. Scottish in later use.Quot. a1225 may be an example of sense B. 2, as it is impossible to determine whether sancte paul is dative or nominative (see note at sense D.).With phrases such as woe in heart (see e.g. quots. c1300, a1450) cf. sense D. 1a. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective] sorelyc888 gramec893 sorrowfuleOE unblithec897 sorryeOE carefulOE charyOE sickOE yomerOE sorry-moodOE sweerc1000 yomerlyOE sorrilyOE woea1200 balec1220 sorry?c1225 sorec1275 sorec1275 gremefula1300 sada1300 ruthlyc1300 thoughtfulc1300 woebegonea1325 heavyc1330 grievousc1374 woefula1375 sorrowya1382 dereful?a1400 sorousa1400 sytefula1400 teenfula1400 wrotha1400 balefulc1400 tristy?c1400 tristc1420 dolefulc1430 wapped in woec1440 yhevidc1440 dolenta1450 condolentc1460 discomforted1477 tristfula1492 sorrow1496 dram?a1513 dolorous1513 earnful?1527 troublous1535 amort1546 mournfula1558 passioned1560 sadded1566 tristive1578 distressed1586 passionate1586 sorrowed1596 distressful1601 passionful1605 sighful1606 contristed1625 anguishinga1642 sadful1658 saddened1665 tristitious1694 sick as a parrot1705 pangful1727 woesome1778 grieving1807 ruesome1833 yearned1838 doleant1861 mournsome1869 thoughted1869 tragical1887 grief-stricken1905 a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 173 Ðanne stondeð þo wreches alse þo þe wo beð. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 45 Þa wes sancte paul swiðe wa and abeh him redliche to his lauerdes fet. c1225 Scribble (Hatton 116) in R. Vleeskruyer Life St Chad (1953) 6 Ic am nout for þisse þinge wo. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1130 Corineus wes un-eðe & wa [c1300 Otho wo] on his mode. c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 275 Þe stuard was in herte wo, For he nuste what to do. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1833 (MED) Iacob was wo ðat he is for-soc. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14546 His disciplis þan war ful waa, þat þair maister was hated sua. a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 3446 He nas neuer ere so sore aferde Ny neuer in hert half so wo. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 446 Full wo was La Beale Isode. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xxii. 10 Mourne not ouer the deed, and be not wo for them. 1573 J. Fowler in More's Dialoge of Cumfort (rev. ed.) To Rdr. sig. iiij Man himselfe borne of a woman, is in dede a wo man, that is, ful of wo and miserie. 1637 S. Rutherford Let.* in Joshua Redivivus (1671) 173 If it be not so, I will be woe to be a witness against them. 1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 211 I am wae for your Skathe. 1778 H. Brooke Female Officer ii. iii, in Coll. Plays & Poems IV. 287 I am a woe woman this heavy day. 1835 J. W. Carlyle Lett. (1883) I. 44 Poor Queen!.. I was wae to look at her, wae to think of her. 1887 H. Caine Deemster III. xxxv. 96 She had grown ‘wae’ as folk said. 1964 Southern Reporter 26 Mar. 9 She was wae to go, and so were her bairns. 2004 J. Waddell Halesome Farin' 87 A'm wae tae grieve ye, But for a whilie A maun leave ye. †(b) In the comparative and superlative. Obsolete (Scottish in later use). ΚΠ c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 2004 And he þe waest [a1500 Trin. Dublin woest] of þe werd. 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) xvi. 249 Mycht na man se a waer [1487 St. John's Cambr. vrathar] man. a1500 (c1370) G. Chaucer Complaint unto Pity (BL Add.) (1886) l. 3 In this world was no wight woer. a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 963 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 125 I couth nocht won in to welth wreth wast [1568 Bannatyne wrech wayest]. a1796 R. Burns Wks. (1840) 324/1 That year I was the waest man O' ony man alive. 1831 J. W. Carlyle Let. 18 Aug. in Coll. Lett. T. &. J. W. Carlyle (1976) V. 345 I am wae for them all—I should be waeest for my self. 1846 A. Laing Wayside Flowers 29 She's wae for hersel', but she's waeer for them. c. In prophetic, denunciatory, or exclamatory utterances. Cf. senses B. 1, B. 2. Now archaic and humorous.In later use often modelled on woe is me at Phrases 2, woe being construed as an adjective (see note at sense D.). ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > [adjective] angeredc1275 miseasedc1390 woea1398 forpainedc1400 labouringc1425 passive?a1439 painedc1450 loaden1542 sored1557 stressed1559 pinched1566 grieved1586 suffering1609 heavy-laden1611 undergoinga1616 vulned1628 loaded1661 afflicted1690 sick as a parrot1705 crosseda1732 wrung1862 traumatized1935 fraught1966 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xix. 320 Woo is þe lond þat hath a childe kinge and princes þat etiþ erliche. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22105 Corozaim, ai be ye waa! And sua be ye bethaida! a1425 Benjamin Minor (Harl. 1022) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 165 Wo is he þat wotnot how harde it is..to a fleshle saule..for to ryse in knawyng of vnseabull ynges. c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 332 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 160 Iervsalem, euir va þu be! a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 1691 This Giaunt hym toke, wo he be! c1525 J. Rastell New Commodye Propertes of Women sig. Cii^v A baudy wych Callyd celystyne that wo myght she be. 1568 (a1500) Colkelbie Sow i. 144 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 286 Wo is him [sc. the dog] Þat hes royne [= mange]. 1614 J. Alliston Christians Guide 501 Woe, woe is vs; Who is able to dwell with this deuouring fire? 1687 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II (ed. 2) II. vii. 528 Wo are we!..nothing will be left besides our selves for his fiery indignation to prey on. 1785 Polit. Psalm 13 Woe are they! the devices of the ungodly have prevailed! 1842 T. Ragg Thoughts on Salvation i. 20 Ah! woe are they whose bread has been tainted by mephitic vapours. 1879 A. J. Ryan Father Ryan's Poems 146 Woe are all! woe are we! Death is victor in the strife. 1917 Amer. Machinist 21 June 1072/2 Woe was him! Sadly he went out and caught a job on the front end of a trolley car. 1990 J. Conaway Napa xiii. 124 They went through the wines, and woe be he who didn't have a trenchant remark for the products at hand. 2. a. Of an event, situation, etc.: fraught with or causing sorrow, distress, or misfortune. Chiefly with anticipatory it as subject. Cf. Compounds 1. Now rare (archaic in later use). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > miserable or wretched > full of or attended with misery wretch1131 wretchlyc1200 woefula1393 miserousc1475 miserable?a1513 miser1542 woe1572 thrallfula1618 the mind > emotion > suffering > misery > [adjective] > of conditions or events wretch1131 wretchedc1200 feeble1297 wrackfulc1311 woefula1393 miserousc1475 miserable?a1513 discomfortablea1535 calamitous1545 tristsum1567 woe1572 untoward1632 1572 Daniels Siftyng (single sheet) The footesteps that Adam, and Eue first dyd trace, To the forboden tree: brought them in woe case. 1615 J. Day Festivals 155 Were it not for Bread, it would be woe with Mankind. a1631 J. Eaton Honey-combe Free Justific. (1642) 69 If he did, it would soone bee woe with us all. 1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc vi. 256 Oh! woe it is to think So many men shall never see the sun Go down! 1907 Washington Post 7 Apr. h11/1 Ah, woe it is to be a fish. 1981 D. Purves Knicht o Riddils in Lallans 16 29 Lang, langsyne, the war a keing an his queen, bydan thegither in mukkil content. But the wae days war no ferr ahint. b. Chiefly Scottish. Expressive or indicative of sorrow or distress; characterized by woe. Now rare. ΚΠ 1593 T. Lodge Phillis sig. I4 When I cry'd, O pitty me my King, His eyes cry'd pitty me, by woe looking. 1618 S. Rowlands Sacred Memorie 46 Hadst thou been heere, his life preseru'd had bin, And these woe teares we had not bathed in. 1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. 188 Ye've gotten a wae look wi' you. 1894 A. Reid Sangs Heatherland 129 He huid the bit handie, the mither was by, The faither aye prayin', a' hushed the wae cry. 1912 N. Munro Ayrshire Idylls (1935) 299 I thought the same wae humour came to Galt. 1913 N. Munro in Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 784/2 The wae wee chirrup of the yellow-yite. 1934 H. B. Cruickshank Up Noran Water 2 Tho' his tongue was licht wi' joke an' tale, His een were wae. 1990 J. Reid in J. A. Begg & J. Reid Dipper & Three Wee Deils 7 The voice was wae an low, Like ane wha'd suffered lang an slow. Phrases P1. to work (also †do) (a person) woe: to inflict distress or trouble on (a person); to afflict; to do harm to. Also without indirect object. Now archaic.woe is originally an adverb in this phrase, but is later apprehended as a noun (cf. sense C. 1). [Compare Old High German wē tuon (Middle High German wē tuon, German weh tun).] ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict overharryeOE aileOE swencheOE besetOE traya1000 teenOE to work (also do) (a person) woeOE derve?c1225 grieve1297 harrya1300 noyc1300 travailc1300 to work (also do) annoyc1300 wrath14.. aggrievea1325 annoya1325 tribula1325 to hold wakenc1330 anguish1340 distrainc1374 wrap1380 strain1382 ermec1386 afflicta1393 cumbera1400 assayc1400 distressc1400 temptc1400 encumber1413 labour1437 infortune?a1439 stressa1450 trouble1489 arraya1500 constraina1500 attempt1525 misease1530 exercise1531 to hold or keep waking1533 try1539 to wring to the worse1542 pinch1548 affligec1550 trounce1551 oppress1555 inflict1566 overharl1570 strait1579 to make a martyr of1599 straiten1611 tribulatea1637 to put through the hoop(s)1919 snooter1923 the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)] heavyc897 pineeOE aileOE sorryeOE traya1000 sorrowOE to work (also do) (a person) woeOE angerc1175 smarta1200 to work, bake, brew balec1200 derve?c1225 grieve?c1225 sitc1225 sweam?c1225 gnawc1230 sughc1230 troublec1230 aggrievea1325 to think sweama1325 unframea1325 anguish1340 teen1340 sowa1352 distrainc1374 to-troublea1382 strain1382 unglad1390 afflicta1393 paina1393 distressa1400 hita1400 sorea1400 assayc1400 remordc1400 temptc1400 to sit (or set) one sorec1420 overthrow?a1425 visit1424 labour1437 passionc1470 arraya1500 constraina1500 misgrievea1500 attempt1525 exagitate1532 to wring to the worse1542 toil1549 lament1580 adolorate1598 rankle1659 try1702 to pass over ——1790 upset1805 to touch (also get, catch, etc.) (a person) on the raw1823 to put (a person) through it1855 bludgeon1888 to get to ——1904 to put through the hoop(s)1919 OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxviii. 138 Ealles forgeaton, þa me grame wæron, worda þinra and me wa dydan. c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 513 Hu monie earmðen anan awakeneð þerwið, þe wurcheð þe wa inoh. ?c1250 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Egerton) 289 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 177 Ac ȝet ne deð heom nout so wo in þo loþe biende bute þat hi witeð þat heore pine ne scal neure habben ende. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 880 Abram hem folwede and wrogte woa. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5531 Bot ai þe mare þai did [þ] am wa þis folk multiplid ai maa. a1450 ( in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 42 I do þe wele, why dost me woo? a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) i. l. 1571 Iubiter sulde noucht..wyrk hym mar wa na dispyte. a1500 Anc. Sc. Prophecy in Bernardus de Cura Rei Famuliaris 25 He kest the stone in þe watter, & bad it waa worghe. 1517 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1928) xviii. 86 It doth ryght well appere..that loue hath done you wo. ?1553 Respublica (1952) v. viii. 57 T(he)is l(adies)..pr(ep)are to weorke vs woo, and doo vs all mischiefe. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 253 Thou knowst..what malicious Foe..seeks to work us woe and shame By sly assault. View more context for this quotation 1764 C. Churchill Duellist ii. 18 Lust of Pow'r, To work him woe, in evil hour Debauch'd the Tyrant from those ways On which a King should found his praise. 1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere ii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 11 I had done an hellish thing And it would work 'em woe. 1890 Lucifer May 192 Our friend is inclined to vehemently suspect you of being the vile enchanter who has worked him woe. 1911 World's Work June 14523/1 He has come voluntarily to choose, of two courses, the less attractive, lest the more attractive work him woe. 2015 W. Bonsall Essent. Guide to Radical, Self-reliant Gardening 150/2 Their [sc. tomatoes'] own residues are apt to work them woe. P2. woe is me. a. I am distressed, unfortunate, sorrowful, etc. Now archaic or in humorous or hyperbolical use. Cf. sense B. 2. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > cry of grief > [interjection] > specific cry of grief woeeOE wellawayeOE weilac1000 wellawayOE wellaOE woe is meOE wummec1175 wia1200 outa1225 alas?c1225 walec1275 ac1300 whilec1402 ochonea1425 wellesay?1440 wannowec1450 helas1484 ah1509 ocha1522 ah me!a1547 wougha1556 eh1569 welladay1570 how1575 wellanear1581 ay me!1591 lasa1593 wella, welladay1601 good lack!1638 oime1660 pillaloo1663 wellanearing1683 lack-a-day1695 wasteheart1695 walya1724 lackadaisy1748 ochree1748 waesucks1773 well-a-winsa1774 ullagone1819 wirra1825 mavrone1827 wirrasthru1827 ototoi1877 wurra1898 OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 278 Heu mihi, domine, quia peccaui nimis in uita mea wa is me, drihten, forþan þe ic syngode swiðe on minum life. lOE Homily (Corpus Cambr. 302) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 167 Wa is me, forþam þe ic ne ondred me helle wite. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14147 Wa is me [c1300 Otho wo his me] þat ich was mon iboren. c1300 St. Mary Magdalen (Laud) l. 364 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 472 Wo is me for þis ȝunge child and for mi Quien þat ich habbe i-lore. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 957 (MED) Allas..wa es me, lauerd, þat i ne had troude þe. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 3075 ‘Wa is me!’ quod he,..‘wa is me vnhappy!’ c1480 (a1400) St. George 146 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 180 Wais me, douchtir, for þe. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. i. 133 Bot netheles, quhat harm, ful wayis me! 1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Sept. 25 My sheepe bene wasted, (wae is me therefore). 1617 I. H. in Greenes Groatsworth of Witte (rev. ed.) To Wittie Poets sig. A2 This olde Ballad made in Hell: Ingenio perij, qui miser ipse meo: Wit, whither wilt thou? woe is me. 1683 G. Meriton York-shire Dialogue in Pure Nat. Dial. 6 Waies is me Husband, our awd Breads all gane. 1729 G. Adams tr. Sophocles Antigone ii. v, in tr. Sophocles Trag. II. 34 Wo is me a Wretch! 1798 W. Wordsworth Thorn vi, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 121 To herself she cries, ‘Oh! oh misery! Oh woe is me!’ 1855 Harper's Mag. July 212/1 But woe is me, Thomas Newcome's fondest hopes were disappointed this time. 1892 F. J. Furnivall Hoccleve's Minor Poems p. xliv Lastly (woe is me!) I printed it in 1878 from [etc.]. 1930 San Mateo (Calif.) Times 3 Oct. 8/4 Woe is me! What will I do? 2011 C. Beall Healing your Marriage xiii. 179 We have resisted the temptation to say ‘woe is me’. b. Used attributively (usually hyphenated), frequently with disparaging implication of indulging in self-pity or pessimism. ΚΠ 1926 Atlantic (Iowa) News-Telegraph 1 Sept. 2/3 The farmers..are out for a joy ride and are doing a lot of smiling, leaving the ‘woe is me’ stunt for the politicians. 1959 Prairie Schooner Fall 202/2 Unlike the bland woe-is-me windiness of Thomas..there is some soul-wracking searching in Williams. 1995 Select Mar. 85/2 The band opt for a tone of glorious kick-ass celebration rather than the all too obvious woe-is-me melancholia. 2012 K. J. Revis Be Changemaster 2 I bought into the common woe-is-me attitude, frustration, and belief that change is hard. P3. woe betide you (also him, her, etc.): (originally) may evil or misfortune happen to you (him, etc.); (in later use colloquial with weakened sense) you (he, etc.) will get into trouble (if..). Also without object (now archaic and rare). ΘΚΠ the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene > imprecations woeOE dahetc1290 confoundc1330 foul (also shame) fall ——c1330 sorrow on——c1330 in the wanianda1352 wildfirea1375 evil theedomc1386 a pestilence on (also upon)c1390 woe betide you (also him, her, etc.)c1390 maldathaita1400 murrainc1400 out ona1415 in the wild waning worldc1485 vengeance?a1500 in a wanion1549 with a wanion1549 woe worth1553 a plague on——a1566 with a wanion to?c1570 with a wanyand1570 bot1584 maugre1590 poxa1592 death1593 rot1594 rot on1595 cancro1597 pax1604 pize on (also upon)1605 vild1605 peascod1606 cargo1607 confusion1608 perditiona1616 (a) pest upon1632 deuce1651 stap my vitals1697 strike me blind, dumb, lucky (if, but—)1697 stop my vitals1699 split me (or my windpipe)1700 rabbit1701 consume1756 capot me!1760 nick me!1760 weary set1788 rats1816 bad cess to1859 curse1885 hanged1887 buggeration1964 c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. ii. l. 86 And ar þis weddyng beo wrouȝt wo þe beo-tyde! c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. l. 116 Er Ich wedde such a wyf wo me bi-tyde! 1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iv. ii. 56 Now helpe, or woe betide thee euermore. View more context for this quotation 1644 Humble Petition of Retaylers sig. A2^v Woe betide them that were the cause thereof. 1794 Har'st Rig cxxx. 40 For our sma' wage, O, wha wad bide, For scabbit aughtpence! woe betide That we shoul'd shear. 1819 J. Keats La Belle Dame ix And there I dream'd, ah! woe betide, The latest dream I ever dream'd. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. xii. 214 Go to the sick man's chamber..and woe betide you if you again quit it without my permission! 1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. vi. 112 If you're not sharp enough I'll creak the door, and wo betide you if I have to creak it much. 1915 J. Drinkwater in Bookman June 448/1 I married him on Christmas morn,—Ah, woe betide; ah, woe betide. 2012 Guardian 22 Aug. (G2 section) 10/2 Woe betide any trainee..who is discovered having a cup of tea. P4. woe worth: see worth v.¹ Phrases 2. P5. tale of woe: a narrative of (one's) problems or misfortunes. Often humorous or in hyperbolical use. ΚΠ 1599 H. Petowe Philochasander & Elanira xl. sig. F4 She rauisht seem'd to heare that tale of woe. 1658 J. Mennes & J. Smith Wit Restor'd 171 Tell her this tale of woe. Tell her where she may finde Me tottering in the winde. 1684 Strange News from Newberry (single sheet) Attend with Lamentation, unto a tale of woe. 1764 T. Phillips Hist. Life R. Pole II. v. 293 The transactions of those ten years amount to no more than a Tale of Woe. 1790 S. T. Coleridge Genevieve 8 Within your soul a voice there lives! It bids you hear the tale of Woe. 1850 Eclectic Rev. Oct. 495 Ask the farmer what he thinks of..the ‘rust’ and ‘red robin’, and there will be unfolded such a tale of woe, such a history of ruin and calamity. 1880 Newcastle Courant 2 Jan. 4/5 Figures, especially when they are exact, are often destructive to a tale of woe. 1916 S. S. Sidelsky Tales of Traveler ii. 38 There we sat for the remainder of the day,..telling each other tales of woe in our experience with Carnation cuttings. 1951 Sport 16 Mar. 4/2 Listen to the tale of woe from Swindon Town, who..suffered their 16th away league defeat. 2014 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. (Nexis) 13 Oct. (NorthSide section) 1 jh Tell us your gas price tales of woe. Compounds C1. General attributive, as woe-day, woe-mark, woe-word, etc. Now rare (only in historical contexts).Some cases may be interpreted either as compounds of the noun or as showing uses of the adjective; cf. attributive uses at senses D. 1b, D. 1a, D. 2. ΚΠ ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 226 Heren þet harde word þet wa word. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4364 Nu is icumen þin wa-dæi. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xix. 320 Þe king drank of his tent a wo drink [emended in ed. to an ouerdronk]. ?a1400 in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1859) I. 48 Ipsis sit Waleway, meschef tristissima woday. 1593 T. Lodge Life & Death William Long Beard sig. C3 Faith is thy best, thy beautie is a woe thing. 1675 C. Cotton Burlesque upon Burlesque 6 What! must I undergoe this wo-thing, And suffer thus for doing nothing? 1691 A. D'Anvers Academia 11 It is a woe thing, When he need say no more then, nothing. 1789 Lady's Mag. May 269/1 Daphne has left me for a braggart's lye. And in the woe-tale does my fire decay. a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 866 Wha, in his wae-days, were loyal to Charlie? 1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 185 Woe-hurricanes beat ever at the gate. 1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton I. ix. 151 The distress..which was crushing their lives out of them, and stamping woe-marks over the land. 1864 J. Rorke Fancies on Photograph i. xiv. 19 The pits and woe-marks in his beamless face. 1884 Alliance Reformed Churches: Minutes & Proc. 3rd Gen. Council 501 Does there not come..a most urgent ‘Woe’, ‘Woe’, from that Woe land? 2003 R. Kuyvenhoven in A. A. den Hollander et al. Paratext & Megatext as Channels Jewish & Christian Trad. 6 A woe-word is spoken against the shepherds of Israel. C2. Objective, as woe-bringing, woe-foreboding, woe-working, etc. ΚΠ 1653 R. Carpenter Anabaptist Washt Advt. to Rdr. 434 The same Wo-denouncing words and Accents, with which he cried against the Scribes and Pharisees. 1674 J. Maynard Law of God Ratified ii. 50 The fifth Angel sounded, which is the first of the three woe-bringing Trumpets. 1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 259 The natural progeny of that woe-begetting parent. 1809 T. Campbell Gertrude of Wyoming iii. xvi. 57 [He] smote his breast with woe-denouncing hand. 1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. 40 Three banners..The woe-foreboding peasant sees. 1887 S. M. Damon Old New-Eng. Days iv. 32 Again rang out that woe-proclaiming message, ‘The British are coming!’ 1929 Folk-lore 40 98 Fairies are treated as partly woe-working. 2005 T. J. Betts Ezekiel the Priest iii. 58 Brownlee equates the material substance of the scroll..with the woe-bringing message of the prophet. C3. a. Instrumental, as woe-beset, woe-exhausted, woe-fraught, adjectives; †woe-enwrap, †woe-wrinkle, verbs, etc. ΚΠ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. l. 2829 Al my face..So riveled and so wo besein. ?a1500 Court of Love (Trin. Cambr. R.3.19) l. 845 in K. Forni Chaucerian Apocrypha (2005) Ye made me wo bestad. 1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 26 Adams fall neuer so woe-enwrapped the earth, as the relation of them shall. 1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 29 Let me..waxe olde and woe-wrinckle my cheekes. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 97 A Woe-surcharged heart. 1619 M. Drayton Barons Warres vi. xcv, in Poems (rev. ed.) 97 Her woe-ty'd Tongue. 1729 R. Savage Wanderer ii. 203 She muses o'er her woe-embroider'd Vest. 1797 M. Robinson Walsingham III. 56 The woe-exhausted poet. 1818 J. Holder Poems 69 From whose woe-fraught bosom break Those dismal cries? 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 51 I..see more clear Thy works within my woe-illumed mind. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. ii. 56 The beleaguered and woe-exhausted city. 1964 N.Y. Times 12 July x. 9/8 A performance that..stressed the rather joyous, certainly less..woe-filled elements and powers of the Fauré Requiem. 2002 Crain's Cleveland Business (Nexis) 9 Sept. 4 Its work force reached 2,000.., a neat trick in the woe-beset U.S. lodging industry. b. woe-stricken adj. ΚΠ 1766 E. Jerningham Yarico to Inkle 15 Bid her recline woe-stricken on thy Breast. 1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xix. 184 Arthur could not see how pallid and woe-stricken her face was. 1912 ‘R. Connor’ Corporal Cameron ii. v. 236 A glance at his young brother's pale and woe-stricken face changed his wrath to pity. 2012 Austral. Financial Rev. 8 Mar. (Second ed.) 12 The woe-stricken retail sector has been forced into a further 580 job cuts. woestruck adj. ΚΠ 1753 J. G. King Poems on Several Occasions 24 Each woe-struck heart with sighs lament thy end. 1828 T. Carlyle Werner in Foreign Rev. 1 133 It is the worst of all his pieces..: there is no passion or interest, but a certain woestruck martyr zeal. 1849 Friend 17 Feb. 170/1 Never have I looked upon an object so pitiable, so woe struck. 2006 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 16 Mar. (Sooner ed.) w16 Randy Kovitz plays Lyman, our woestruck and self-sabotaging protagonist. woe-worn adj. ΚΠ 1601 Marie Magdalens Lament. ii. 132 Poore wo-worn woman. 1799 H. Gurney Cupid & Psyche 46 These wan and woe-worn cheeks of mine. 1857 E. C. Gaskell Life C. Brontë II. xiii. 324 She saw her husband's woe-worn face. 1922 Rec. Christian Work 41 649/2 Beyond this sin-stricken, woe-worn world, there is a heaven of righteousness. 2006 Pittsburgh Tribune Rev. (Nexis) 8 Jan. Two woe-worn, would-be lovers..are chewed up, spit out and exploited by..the corporate system. C4. In other adverbial relations. † woe-betrothed adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Supplicants in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 75 My bursting heart..woe-betroth'd, fears e'en its friends. † woe-destined adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1796 E. Hamilton Lett. Hindoo Rajah I. iv. 87 The..years, which might change the abode of the souls of these tyrant whites into the frames of woe-destined negroes. † woe-sprung adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad 276 Their woe-sprung tears shall sue. 1883 C. G. D. Roberts Coll. Poems (1985) 76 She steeps The flowers buried in their earthy bed With woe-sprung showers of agony and dread. woe-weary adj. ΚΠ a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 793 He slod sliȝli a-doun a-slepe ful harde, as a wo wery weiȝh for-waked to-fore. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xxi. l. 1 (MED) Wo-werie and wetschode wente ich forth after, As a richeles renke þat reccheþ nat of sorwe. 1835 T. Wade Mundi et Cordis xxxii. 223 This woe-weary world, where chance and change Still drug joy's purest cup with misery. 1920 W. B. Hale Story Style viii. 256 He is woe-weary, and bewildered, and heart-sick. 1988 AAP Newsfeed (Nexis) 7 Dec. Woe-weary and sickened by the economic crisis, Hong Kong has launched its ‘Hong Kong Together’ campaign. † woe-wedded adj. Obsolete ΚΠ 1613 J. Davies Muses-teares C 3 When thou..Cam'st to espouse his Halfe; wo-wedded now! 1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Agamemnon in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 255 On its woe-wedded [Gk. αἰνόλεκτρον] Paris' hated head. 1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas II. 86 'Tis the cry he will deem, and none other, Of Procne, the woe-wedded mother. C5. † woe-cross-wounded adj. Obsolete rare pierced through with woe; cf. cross-wounded adj. at cross- comb. form 2. ΚΠ 1609 J. Davies Holy Roode sig. F2 Comfort..Her woe-crosse-wounded Heart. † woe-heart n. Obsolete rare a cause of sorrow or distress; cf. sense D. 1a. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > [noun] sorrowOE ail?c1225 scorpion?c1225 dolec1290 angera1325 anguishc1330 cupa1340 aggrievancea1400 discomfortc1405 afflictionc1429 sytec1440 pressurea1500 constraint1509 tenterhook1532 grief1535 annoying1566 troubler1567 griper1573 vexation1588 infliction1590 trouble1591 temptationc1595 load1600 torment1600 wringer1602 sorance1609 inflicting1611 brusha1616 freighta1631 woe-heart1637 ordeala1658 cut-up1782 unpleasure1792 iron maiden1870 mental cruelty1899 1637 S. Rutherford Let. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) 252 To harden..our soft and thin skinned nature to endure fire and water.., losses, woe hearts. 1639 S. Rutherford Let. 1 Oct. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) 477 I hope, Christ, when he married you, married you and all the crosses & woe-hearts that follow you. woe-monger n. a person who promotes or spreads woe; a doom-monger. ΚΠ 1842 Fraser's Mag. Nov. 515/1 Incurable woemongers in verse and prose. 1927 Daily Express 1 June 8/2 We have no use for the pessimists, no patience with the woe-mongers. 2015 Afr. News (Nexis) 3 Apr. Many of those stocks had been held down by activities of woe-mongers. woe trumpet n. each of the three trumpets sounded by angels to herald the coming of the three divine afflictions described in Revelation 9, comprising the final three of the seven angelic trumpets of Revelation 8–9; (also) each of these afflictions. ΚΠ 1643 R. More in tr. J. Mede Key Revelation Compend. sig. Ss2 The..first woe Trumpet, sendeth the hostile bands of Saracens,..in the Type of Locusts. 1790 P. Burton Seven Prophetical Periods 174 The first woe commenced with the fifth trumpet, and lasted from the year 568 to 1281, when the sixth trumpet, or second woe trumpet began. 1826 E. Irving Babylon I. iii. 196 We expect the seventh trumpet, the last of the three woe trumpets. 1921 J. H. McConkey Bk. Revelation 50 Let not the reader perplex himself as to how far such things as the locust horde, and the two hundred million horsemen of these woe trumpets are literal or symbolic. 2011 R. B. Burns Be not Deceived (Rev. viii. 7) 141 The Woe Trumpets..are expressly said to be inflicted upon men. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < int.adv.n.adj.eOE
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