sorrow

English

Etymology

From Middle English sorow, sorwe, from Old English sorh, sorg, from Proto-Germanic *surgō (cf. West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish sorg), from Proto-Indo-European *swergʰ- 'to watch over, worry' (cf. Old Irish serg 'sickness', Tocharian B sark 'id.', Lithuanian sirgti ‘to be sick’, Albanian dergjem (“I fall ill”), Sanskrit sū́rkṣati ‘he worries’ ).

Pronunciation

• (RP) enPR: sŏr'ō, IPA: /ˈsɒɹəʊ/, X-SAMPA: /"sQrəU/
• (GenAm) IPA: /ˈsɑɹoʊ/, (especially Canadian) IPA: /ˈsɔɹoʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒɹəʊ

Noun

sorrow (countable and uncountable; plural sorrows)

1. (uncountable) unhappiness, woe
2. (countable) (usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.

   Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Translations

unhappiness

• American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
• Arabic: حزن (ar) (Huzn) m
• Bengali: দুঃখ (bn) (duḥkh), বেদনা (bn) (bedôna)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悲傷 (cmn), 悲伤 (cmn) (bēishāng), 悲哀 (cmn) (bēi'āi)

• Czech: smutek (cs) m
• Danish: sorg (da), smerte (da)
• Dutch: smart (nl), rouw (nl)
• Esperanto: malĝojo (eo)
• Finnish: suru (fi), murhe (fi), huoli (fi)
• French: peine (fr) f
• Georgian: დარდი (ka) (dardi), ვარამი (ka) (varami), წუხილი (ka) (cuxili), მწუხარება (ka) (mcuxareba)
• German: Kummer (de) m, Traurigkeit (de) f, Trauer (de) f, Sorge (de) f, Kümmernis (de) f, Leiden (de) n
• Greek: λύπη (el) (lýpi) f
• Hebrew: צער (he) (tsāʿār) m
• Hindi: दुःख (hi) (duḥkh) m, उदासी (hi) (udāsī), शोक (hi) (śok) m, ग़म (hi) (ġam) m, अफ़सोस (hi) (afsos) m
• Irish: brón (ga) m

• Italian: tristezza (it), dolore (it), pena (it) f, afflizione (it) f, infelicità (it) f
• Japanese: 悲しみ (ja) (かなしみ, kanashimi)
• Korean: 슬픔 (ko) (seulpeum)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: داخ (ku) (dax), خه‌فه‌ت (ku) (xefet)

• Old English: sorh (ang) f, cearu (ang) f
• Persian: غم (fa) (ğam), افسوس (fa) (afsus)
• Polish: smutek (pl) m
• Portuguese: tristeza (pt) f, mágoa (pt) f
• Romanian: tristețe (ro) f, întristare (ro) f, mâhnire (ro) f, supărare (ro) f, nefericire (ro) f, durere (ro) f
• Russian: горе (ru) (góre) n, печаль (ru) (pečál') f
• Sanskrit: अप्रसन्नता (sa) (aprasannatā)
• Scottish Gaelic: bròn m, èislean m, duilichinn f, doilgheas m, tùirse f, mulad m
• Spanish: tristeza (es) f, aflicción (es) f, infelicidad (es) f, pesar (es) m, dolor (es) m
• Swedish: sorg (sv)
• Telugu: దిగులు (digulu), బాధ (baadha)
• Urdu: غم (ur) (ġam) m, افسوس (ur) (afsos) m, دکھ (ur) (dukh), سوگ (ur) (sug), اداسی (ur) (udāsī)

instance or cause of unhappiness

• Bengali: বেদনা (bn)
• Finnish: suru (fi), murhe (fi), huoli (fi)

• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• Old English: cearu (ang) f

Verb

sorrow (third-person singular simple present sorrows, present participle sorrowing, simple past and past participle sorrowed)

1. (intransitive) To feel or express grief.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 424:

     ‘Sorrow not, sir,’ says he, ‘like those without hope.’

2. (transitive) To feel grief over; to mourn, regret.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.12:

     It is impossible to make a man naturally blind, to conceive that he seeth not; impossible to make him desire to see, and sorrow his defect.

References

• “sorrow” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "sorrow" in WordNet 3.0, Princeton University, 2006.