woe

English

Etymology

From Middle English wo, wei, wa, from Old English wā, wǣ, from Proto-West Germanic *wai, from Proto-Germanic *wai (interjection), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (interjection).

See also Dutch wee, German Weh, weh, Danish ve, Yiddish וויי‎ (vey); also Latin vae, Albanian vaj, French ouais, Ancient Greek οὐαί (ouaí), Persian ‎ (vây) (Turkish vay, a Persian borrowing), and Armenian վայ (vay).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wəʊ/
(General American) enPR: wō, IPA^(key): /woʊ/
Audio (GA) (file)
Rhymes: -əʊ
Homophone: whoa (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

woe (countable and uncountable, plural woes)

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.
Calamity, trouble.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Revelation 8:13:
  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
A curse; a malediction.
- 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), 6th edition, London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, OCLC 21766567:
  Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?

Derived terms

for weal or woe
woebegone
woe betide
woeful
woe is me
woe to

Translations

grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity

Arabic: حَزَن‎ (ḥazan)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܘܵܝܵܐ‎ (wāya)
Bulgarian: беда (bg) f (beda), злочестие n (zločestie), скръб (bg) f (skrǎb)
Chinese:
- Mandarin: 悲痛 (zh) (bēitòng), 悲慟 (zh), 悲恸 (zh) (bēitòng)
Dutch: droefheid (nl), lijden (nl), ellende (nl), ongeluk (nl)
Egyptian:

(jꜥnw)
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 (he) (avoy), צער‎ (he) m (tsa'ar), יגון‎ (he) m (yagon)
Italian: dolore (it) m, disgrazia (it) f, guaio (it) m
Latin: dolor (la), luctus
Low German:
German Low German: Weh n
Maori: aitu
Norwegian: sorg (no) m
Occitan: dolor (oc) f, patiment (oc) m, patiràs m
Polish: nieszczęście (pl) n, żałość (pl) 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, nenorocire (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, infortunio (es) m, ay (es) m
Swedish: sorg (sv), ve (sv)
Turkish: dert (tr), gam (tr), keder (tr), teessür (tr), üzüntü (tr)
Vietnamese: khốn (vi)
Czech: trápení (cs) n, strast f, běda f, hoře (cs) n

Adjective

woe (comparative more woe, superlative most woe)

(obsolete) Woeful; sorrowful
- 1303, Robert of Brunne, Handlyng synne
  hys clerk was wo to do þat dede
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, OCLC 932884868:
  Wo was the knight and sorroufully he syketh.
  (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, stanza 53:
  And looking vp, when as his shield he lakt, / And sword saw not, he wexed wondrous woe
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i], page 17:
  Prospero: I am woe for't, Sir.

Interjection

woe

(archaic) An exclamation of grief.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii], page 2:
  Miranda: O woe, the day.

Translations

exclamation of grief

Arabic: وَيْل‎ (wayl)
Aramaic:
- Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: וַי‎ (way)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 唉 (zh) (āi)
Esperanto: ve (eo)
Finnish: voi (fi)
French: hélas (fr)
German: weh (de)
Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌹 (wai)
Greek: ουαί (el) (ouaí), φευ (el) (fef)
Ancient: οὐαί (ouaí), φεῦ (pheû)
Hebrew: אוֹי‎ (he) (oy), אֲהָהּ‎ (he) (aháh) (Biblical), וַי‎ (he) (vay) (Talmudic)
Japanese: ああ (ja) (ā), あたら (ja) (atara)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: وەی‎ (wey)
Latin: vae, heu, ēheu
Old English: wæ
Persian: وای‎ (fa) (vây)
Polish: biada (pl)
Punjabi:
Shahmukhi: ہائے‎ (hā'ē)
Gurmukhi: ਹਾਏ (hāē)
Romanian: vai (ro)
Spanish: ay (es)

Anagrams

owe

Limburgish

Alternative forms

wu, wuë (Eupen)
wooe (Krefeld)
boe (Maastrichtian)
wo

Adverb

woe

where
Woe is Sjeng? ― Where is Sjeng?

Middle Dutch

Etymology

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

Adverb

woe

(eastern) Alternative form of hoe

Middle English

Pronoun

woe

Alternative form of we (“we”)