wail

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a cry of sorrow and grief
  2. verb emit long loud cries
  3. verb cry weakly or softly

Etymology

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy. The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14ᵗʰ c.. The noun came from the verb.

In classic literature

Synonyms

lament, lamentation, plaint

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