sorrow

See also: Sorrow

English

Etymology

From Middle English sorow, sorwe, sorghe, sorȝe, from Old English sorg, sorh (“care, anxiety, sorrow, grief”), from Proto-West Germanic *sorgu, from Proto-Germanic *surgō (compare West Frisian soarch, Dutch zorg, German Sorge, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sorg), from Proto-Indo-European *swergʰ- (“watch over, worry; be ill, suffer”) (compare Old Irish serg (“sickness”), Tocharian B sark (“sickness”), Lithuanian sirgti (“be sick”), Sanskrit सूर्क्षति (sū́rkṣati, “worry”). Despite the similarity in form and meaning, not historically related to sorry and sore.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) enPR: sŏrʼō, IPA^(key): /ˈsɒɹ.əʊ/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑɹ.oʊ/
(Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔɹ.oʊ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɒɹəʊ

Noun

sorrow (countable and uncountable, plural sorrows)

(uncountable) unhappiness, woe
- August 28, 1750, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 47
  The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment.
(countable) (usually in plural) An instance or cause of unhappiness.
- 1903, Maud Salvini, “Salvini as I Know Him”, in The Theatre, number 3, page 312:
  She had nursed all the children, including Sandro, to whom she was devoted, and my husband was just as fond of her. His going away to America was a great sorrow to her, and she always kept the sacred light burning on a little altar for Sandro all the time of his long absence.
- 1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 14:
  Vaublanc, in San Domingo so sympathetic to the sorrows of labour in France, had to fly from Paris in August, 1792, to escape the wrath of the French workers.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Derived terms

China's Sorrow
drown one's sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows
sorrowful
sorrowfully
sorrowfulness
sorrowless
sorrowly
sorrow-ridden
sorrowsome

Translations

unhappiness

Albanian: keqardhje (sq) f, dëshpërim (sq) m, brengosje (sq) f, brengë (sq) f
American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
Arabic: حُزْن‎ m (ḥuzn)
Armenian: տխրություն (hy) (txrutʿyun), վիշտ (hy) (višt)
Azerbaijani: kədər (az), qəm (az), hüzn, dərd (az), qüssə (az), qəm-qüssə, ələm
Belarusian: сму́так m (smútak), печа́ль f (pječálʹ), го́ра (be) n (hóra), сум m (sum), туга́ f (tuhá)
Bengali: দুঃখ (bn) (duḥkhô), দেরেগ (bn) (dereg), গোসা (gosa), নারাজী (narazī)
Breton: kastiz (br) m
Bulgarian: скръб (bg) f (skrǎb), печа́л (bg) f (pečál), жа́лост (bg) f (žálost), го́рест (bg) f (górest)
Burmese: ပရိဒေဝ (my) (pa.ri.dewa.), အဆွေး (my) (a.hcwe:), အပူ (my) (a.pu)
Catalan: tristesa (ca) f, dolor (ca) m, pena (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 悲傷／悲伤 (zh) (bēishāng), 悲哀 (zh) (bēi'āi), 感傷／感伤 (zh) (gǎnshāng)
Czech: smutek (cs) m
Danish: sorg (da) c, smerte (da), græmmelse
Dutch: verdriet (nl) n, smart (nl) c, droefheid (nl) f
Esperanto: malĝojo
Estonian: kurbus
Finnish: suru (fi), murhe (fi), huoli (fi)
French: peine (fr) f, chagrin (fr)
Galician: tristura f, pena (gl) f, pesadume f
Georgian: დარდი (dardi), ვარამი (varami), წუხილი (c̣uxili), მწუხარება (mc̣uxareba), სევდა (sevda), ნაღველი (naɣveli)
German: Kummer (de) m, Traurigkeit (de) f, Trauer (de) f, Sorge (de) f, Kümmernis (de) f, Leiden (de) n, Gram (de) m
Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌹𐌸𐌰 f (gauriþa), 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌴𐌹 f (gaurei)
Greek: λύπη (el) f (lýpi), θλίψη (el) f (thlípsi)
Ancient: λύπη f (lúpē)
Hebrew: צַעַר‎ (he) m (tsa'ár)
Hindi: दुःख (hi) m (duḥkh), उदासी (hi) (udāsī), शोक (hi) m (śok), ग़म m (ġam), अफ़सोस m (afsos)
Hungarian: bánat (hu), szomorúság (hu), bú (hu), búbánat (hu)
Icelandic: sorg (is) f
Ido: chagreno (io)
Irish: brón m, cumha m, tuirse (ga) f, ong m (literary)
Italian: tristezza (it), dolore (it), pena (it) f, afflizione (it) f, infelicità (it) f
Japanese: 悲しみ (ja) (かなしみ, kanashimi), 悲哀 (ja) (ひあい, hiai)
Kazakh: қайғы (qaiğy), зар (zar)
Khmer: ទុក្ខ (km) (tuk), ថ្នាំង (km) (thnang), សោក (km) (saok)
Kikuyu: kĩeha
Korean: 슬픔 (ko) (seulpeum), 비애(悲哀) (ko) (biae), 시름 (ko) (sireum)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: داخ‎ (ku) (dax), خەفەت‎ (ku) (xefet)
Kyrgyz: кайгы (ky) (kaygı)
Lao: ຄວາມໂສກເສົ້າ (lo) (khuām sōk sao)
Latgalian: skume, žālobys
Latin: luctus m, aegritudo
Latvian: sēras, bēdas
Lithuanian: liūdesys (lt) m
Macedonian: тага f (taga)
Malay: kesedihan (ms)
Manx: bran, seaghyn f, smeih, sou-aigney f, trimshey f, dobberan
Maori: pāpōuri
Middle English: sorow, hevyte
Mongolian: уй гашуу (uj gašuu), гашуудал (mn) (gašuudal)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sorg (no) m or f
Nynorsk: sorg f
Old English: sorg f, caru f
Old Norse: sorg f
Oromo: gadda
Persian: غم‎ (fa) (ğam), اندوه‎ (fa) (anduh), زاری‎ (fa) (zâri), حزن‎ (fa) (hozn)
Polish: smutek (pl) m
Portuguese: tristeza (pt) f, mágoa (pt) f, pesar (pt)
Punjabi: ਦੁੱਖ m (dukh), ਦੁਖ m (dukh)
Quechua: llaki (qu), phuti
Romanian: tristețe (ro) f, întristare (ro) f, mâhnire (ro) f, supărare (ro) f, nefericire (ro) f, durere (ro) f
Russian: го́ре (ru) n (góre), печа́ль (ru) f (pečálʹ), грусть (ru) f (grustʹ), тоска́ (ru) f (toská), уны́ние (ru) n (unýnije), скорбь (ru) f (skorbʹ)
Sanskrit: अप्रसन्नता (aprasannatā), दुःख (sa) n (duḥkha)
Scottish Gaelic: bròn m, èislean m, duilichinn f, doilgheas m, tùirse f, mulad m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: жа̏ло̄ст f, ту́га f
Roman: žȁlōst (sh) f, túga (sh) f
Slovak: smútok m, zármutok m
Slovene: žalost (sl) f
Spanish: tristeza (es) f, aflicción (es) f, infelicidad (es) f, pesar (es) m, pesadumbre (es) f, dolor (es) m, pena (es) f, sinsabor (es) m, quebranto (es), acíbar (es) m
Swedish: sorg (sv) c
Tajik: ғам (ġam), андӯҳ (andüh), ҳузн (huzn), ғусса (ġussa)
Tamil: சோகம் (ta) (cōkam), துக்கம் (ta) (tukkam), துயரம் (ta) (tuyaram)
Tatar: кайгы (tt) (qaygı)
Telugu: దిగులు (te) (digulu), బాధ (te) (bādha)
Thai: ความทุกข์ (th) (kwaam-túk), ความเศร้า (th) (kwaam sâo), ทุกข์ (th) (túk)
Tocharian B: mentsi
Turkish: üzüntü (tr), keder (tr)
Turkmen: gussa, gynanç
Ukrainian: печа́ль f (pečálʹ), го́ре n (hóre), сму́ток m (smútok), скорбо́та f (skorbóta)
Urdu: غم‎ (ur) m (ġam), افسوس‎ m (afsos), دکھ‎ (dukh), سوگ‎ (sug), اداسی‎ (udāsī)
Uyghur: قايغۇ‎ (qayghu)
Uzbek: qaygʻu (uz), anduh (uz), gʻam (uz)
Vietnamese: nỗi buồn (vi) (挼𢞂), sự buồn (vi) (事𢞂)
Welsh: tristwch (cy) m, trymfryd m, galar (cy) m, gofid (cy) m
Western Panjabi: دکھ‎ (pnb)

instance or cause of unhappiness

Catalan: dolor (ca) m, pena (ca) f, tristor (ca) f
Finnish: suru (fi), murhe (fi), huoli (fi)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
Old English: sorg f, caru f
Russian: го́ре (ru) n (góre), печа́ль (ru) f (pečálʹ), грусть (ru) f (grustʹ)

Verb

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

(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.’
(transitive) To feel grief over; to mourn, regret.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
  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.

Derived terms

besorrow

Translations

to show grief

Bulgarian: скърбя (bg) (skǎrbja), тъгувам (bg) (tǎguvam)
Maori: huamo
Persian: نهیدن‎ (fa) (nehidan)
Telugu: శోకించు (te) (śōkiñcu)

References

“sorrow”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
"sorrow" in WordNet 3.1, Princeton University, 2011.