Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish. · To weep, lament persistently or bitterly. · To make a noise like mourning or crying. · To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish. · Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl. · A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.
c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy. The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14ᵗʰ c.. The noun came from the verb.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "weilen"
},
"expansion": "Middle English weilen"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non",
"3": "væla",
"4": "",
"5": "to wail"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse væla (“to wail”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*wai"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wai"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "wā",
"3": "",
"4": "woe"
},
"expansion": "Old English wā (“woe”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
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"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*wáy"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wáy"
}
],
"links": [
[
"weilen",
"weilen#Middle_English"
],
[
"waylen",
"waylen#Middle_English"
],
[
"væla",
"væla#Old_Norse"
],
[
"væ",
"væ#Old_Norse"
],
[
"vei",
"vei#Old_Norse"
],
[
"*wai",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wai"
],
[
"wā",
"wa#Old_English"
],
[
"woe",
"woe#English"
],
[
"*wáy",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wáy"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.",
"To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.",
"To make a noise like mourning or crying.",
"To lament; to bewail; to grieve over."
],
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"intransitive",
"transitive"
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{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.",
"Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.",
"A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with \"yelp\" which is higher-pitched and faster."
],
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