lament

A back-formation from lamentation or else from Middle French lamenter and its etymon Latin lāmentor (“I wail, weep”), from lāmentum (“wailing, moaning, weeping”);^[1] with formative -mentum, from the root *la-, probably ultimately imitative. Also see latrare.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ləˈmɛnt/

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

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• Rhymes: -ɛnt

lament (plural laments)

1. An expression of grief, suffering, sadness or regret.
2. A song expressing grief.

lament (third-person singular simple present laments, present participle lamenting, simple past and past participle lamented)

1. (intransitive) To express grief; to weep or wail; to mourn.

   Synonyms: grieve, mourn; see also Thesaurus:be sad, Thesaurus:complain

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 16:20:

     Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.

   • 2006, Nicholas Antongiavanni [pseudonym; Michael Anton], The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men's Style, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 52:

     And they are dangerous because when worn they make their wearer look ridiculous and contemptible to those not enthralled by the same fashion; and when their moment has passed they take up precious closet space, taunting you and making you lament of money that should have been spent on something more longevous.

2. (transitive) To express great sorrow or regret over; to bewail.

   Synonyms: bemoan, bewail; see also Thesaurus:lament

   • 1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 99:

     Euston is so traditionally a part of the London scene that many will lament the passing of the old station when rebuilding is complete in readiness for the new electric service, which will probably be by multiple-units between Euston and Wolverhampton.

   • 2014 October 18, Paul Doyle, “Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter”, in The Guardian:

     By the end, Sunderland were lucky to lose by the same scoreline Northampton Town suffered against Southampton, in 1921. The Sunderland manager, Gus Poyet, lamented that it was “the most embarrassed I’ve ever been on a football pitch, without a doubt”.

   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Tenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

     One laugh'd at follies, one lamented crimes.

• “lament”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “lament”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• mantel, mental, mantle, Mantel, manlet, Mantle

• IPA^(key): [ˈlamɛnt]
• Rhymes: -amɛnt

lament

1. genitive plural of lamento

lament

1. alternative form of 'lament, clipping of solament (“only”)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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lament

1. third-person plural present indicative/subjunctive of lamer

• mêlant, mental

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -amɛnt
• Syllabification: la‧ment

Learned borrowing from Latin lāmentum.

lament m inan

1. lamentation, lament (sorrowful cry)

   Synonym: lamentacja

2. lament, threnody (mournful song expressing sadness over someone's death or some unpleasant event)

   Synonym: lamentacja

3. (poetry) threnody (poem of lamentation or mourning for a dead person; a dirge; an elegy)

   Synonyms: lamentacja, tren

See alimenty.

lament m inan

1. (Central Greater Poland, Kalisz Voivodeship) alternative form of alimenty

• lament in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lament in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• lament in PWN's encyclopedia
• Hieronim Łopaciński (1892), “lament”, in “Przyczynki do nowego słownika języka polskiego (słownik wyrazów ludowych z Lubelskiego i innych okolic Królestwa Polskiego)”, in Prace Filologiczne (in Polish), volume 4, Warsaw: skł. gł. w Księgarni E. Wende i Ska, page 213

Borrowed from Latin lamentum.

lament n (plural lamente)

1. wailing, moaning, weeping

• lament in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN