regret

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Wikipedia

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Verb 1.3.1 Usage notes 1.3.2 Derived terms 1.3.3 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Related terms 1.4.2 Translations 1.5 Related terms 1.6 External links

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Middle English regretten from Old French regreter (“‘to lament’”), from re- (intensive prefix) + greter "to weep", of Germanic origin, from Frankish *grêtan, grêotan from Proto-Germanic *gretan (“‘to weep’”). Akin to Middle High German grāzan "to cry", Old English grǣtan "to weep, greet", Old English grēotan "to weep, lament", Old Norse grāta "to weep, groan", Gothic grētan "to weep". More at greet

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ɛt

[edit] Verb

to regret (third-person singular simple present regrets, present participle regretting, simple past and past participle regretted)

1. To feel sorry about some past thing, wishing it had not happened, but something else instead.

[edit] Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (the -ing form), except in set phrases with tell, say, and inform, where the to infinitive is used. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

[edit] Derived terms

• regretter

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

regret (plural regrets)

1. The instance of such an emotion.

[edit] Related terms

• remorse

[edit] Translations

[edit] Related terms

• regretful
• regrettable

[edit] External links

• regret in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• regret in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911