Rue

Definitions

1. A surname.
2. Any of various perennial shrubs of the genus Ruta, especially the herb Ruta graveolens (common rue), formerly used in medicines.
   countable, uncountable
3. Sorrow; repentance; regret.
   archaic, dialectal, uncountable
4. Pity; compassion.
   archaic, dialectal, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“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.”

“The life of one plant⟳ would be affected by another. Rue was definitely hostile to basil, rosemary to hyssop, but coriander, dill and chervil lived on the friendliest of terms[.]”

“Like⟳ the water lily, endive, and lettuce, rue was believed to have⟳ anti-aphrodisiac properties.”

CEFR level