rue

Sorrow; repentance; regret.archaicdialectaluncountable

• When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, / "The heart out of the bosom was never given in vain; / 'Tis paid with sighs aplenty and sold for endless rue." / And I am two-and-twenty, and oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.

Pity; compassion.archaicdialectaluncountable

To repent of or regret (some past action or event); to wish that a past action or event had not taken place.transitive

• to rue the day
• I rued the day I crossed paths with her.

To cause to repent of sin or regret some past action.obsoletetransitive

To cause to feel sorrow or pity.obsoletetransitive

To feel compassion or pity; to take pity (on), to have compassion (on).archaicintransitiveobsolete

• 1842, Nicholas Ridley, The Life of Nicholas Ridley which stirred men's hearts to rue upon them

To feel sorrow or regret.archaicintransitive

• Old year, we'll dearly rue for you.

Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens (common rue), formerly used in medicines.countableuncountable

• But th'aged Nourse, her calling to her bowre, / Had gathered Rew, and Savine, and the flowre / Of Camphora, and Calamint, and Dill [...].
• Ophelia: There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s rue for you; and here’s some for me: we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with a difference.