Added 9 October 2026
sorrow
/ˈsɒɹəʊ/ noun
In Latin: luctus, aegritudo Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sorrow at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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An emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement.
he tried to express his sorrow at her loss
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Sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment.
he drank to drown his sorrows
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Something that causes great unhappiness.
her death was a great grief to John
verb
Origin
From Middle English sorwe, sorow, sorewe, 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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)