verb (used with object)
- to feel or express sorrow or regret for: to lament his absence.
- to mourn for or over.
verb (used without object)
- to feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret.
- to mourn deeply.
noun
- an expression of grief or sorrow.
- a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, especially in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.
verb
- to feel or express sorrow, remorse, or regret (for or over)
noun
- an expression of sorrow
- a poem or song in which a death is lamented
v.mid-15c., back-formation from lamentation or else from Middle French lamenter “to moan, bewail” (14c.) and directly from Latin lamentari, from lamentum (see lamentation). Related: Lamented; lamenting. n.1590s, from Middle French lament and directly from Latin lamentum (see lamentation).