verb (used with or without object)
- to make or become sad.
verb
- to make or become sad
v.“to make sorrowful,” 1620s, from sad + -en (1). Earlier verb was simply sade, from Old English sadian, which also could be the immediate source of the modern verb. Intransitive meaning “to become sad” is from 1718. Related: Saddened; saddening.