woe

English

Etymology

From Middle English wo, wei, wa, from Old English wā, wēa, from Proto-Germanic *wai, whence also Dutch wee, German weh, Danish ve, Yiddish וויי‏ (vey). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wai. Compare Latin vae, French ouais, Ancient Greek οὐαί (ouaí), Persian وای‏ (vây) (Turkish vay, a Persian borrowing), and Armenian վայ (vay).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /wəʊ/
• (US) enPR: wō, IPA^(key): /woʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophone: whoa (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

woe (countable and uncountable, plural woes)

1. Great sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.

   Synonyms: grief, sorrow, misery

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost

     Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, / Sad instrument of all our woe, she took.

   • 1717, Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard

     Soon as thy letters trembling I unclose / That well-known name awakens all my woes.

   • October 14 2017, Sandeep Moudgal, The Times of India, Rains devastate families, political parties make beeline to apply balm on open wounds

     The Friday night rains which wrecked families in Kurabarahalli saw all the three major political parties making a beeline to express their condolences, listen to their woes and provide compensation in the hope of garnering their goodwill ahead of the 2018 assembly elections.

2. A curse; a malediction.
   • South

     Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?

Derived terms

• in weal or woe
• woebegone
• woeful
• woe is me

Translations

grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity

• Arabic: وَيْل‏‎ (wayl)
• Chinese:
• Dutch: droefheid (nl), lijden (nl), ellende (nl), ongeluk (nl)
• Finnish: suru (fi), tuska (fi)
• French: tristesse (fr) f, douleur (fr) f, misère (fr) f, malheur (fr) m
• German: Weh (de) n, Jammer (de) m, Kummer (de) m, Leid (de) n
• Greek: θλίψη (el) f (thlípsi), συμφορά (el) f (symforá)
• Hebrew: אבוי‏‎ (avoy), צער‏‎ (he) m (tsa'ar), יגון‏‎ (he) m (yagon)
• Italian: dolore (it) m, disgrazia (it) f, guaio (it) m
• Latin: vae
• Low German:

  German Low German: Weh n

• Mandarin: 悲痛，悲恸
• Maori: aitu
• Norwegian: sorg (no) m
• Occitan: dolor (oc) f, patiment (oc) m, patiràs m
• Polish: nieszczęście (pl) n, żałość f, cierpienie (pl) n, niedola (pl) f
• Portuguese: desgraça (pt) f, infelicidade (pt) f, mágoa (pt) f
• Romanian: durere (ro) f, suferință (ro) f, mâhnire (ro) f
• Russian: печа́ль (ru) f (pečálʹ), грусть (ru) f (grustʹ), го́ре (ru) (góre)
• Scottish Gaelic: dòlas m, truaighe f, sgad m
• Spanish: pena (es) f, vay
• Swedish: sorg (sv), ve (sv)
• Turkish: dert (tr), gam (tr), keder (tr), teessür (tr), üzüntü (tr)

Adjective

woe (comparative more woe, superlative most woe)

1. (obsolete) woeful; sorrowful
   • Robert of Brunne

     His clerk was woe to do that deed.

   • Chaucer

     Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed.

   • Spenser

     And looking up he waxed wondrous woe.

Anagrams

• owe

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Limburgish

Etymology

From Middle Dutch woe, from Old Dutch *wuo, from Proto-Germanic *hwō.

Adverb

woe

1. where

   Boe is Sjeng? ― Where is John?

Alternative forms

• boe (Maastrichtian)

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wuo, from Proto-Germanic *hwō.

Adverb

woe

1. (eastern) Alternative form of hoe