Where does “regret” come from?
Regret comes from Middle English regretten, from Old French regreter, formed with the prefix re- and a root ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European wer-.
regret (English): To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead
Definitions
- To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead
Ancestry of “regret”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | regretten | — |
| 2 | Old French | regreter | to regret; to bewail; to lament |
| 3 | Old French | re- | re- again; once more |
| 4 | Latin | rĕ- | back, backwards |
| 5 | Latin | prōdūcō | to lead or bring forth, forward or out |
| 6 | Latin | prō- | forward direction, forward movement |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *pro- | pro- see the Latin entry for further meanings |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |