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Added 9 October 2026

wail

/weɪl/ noun

In Latin: vagio Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wail at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A cry of sorrow and grief.
their pitiful laments could be heard throughout the ward

verb

Emit long loud cries.
wail in self-pity
Cry weakly or softly.
she wailed with pain

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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