woenessn.
/ˈwəʊnəs/, U.S. /ˈwoʊnəs/, Scottish English /ˈwonəs/ Originally and chiefly Scottish. Now rare.
Grief, sorrow; sadness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [noun]
rueeOE
teeneOE
sorrowOE
gramec1000
sytec1175
ruthc1225
dolea1240
balec1275
sighinga1300
dolour13..
ermingc1300
heartbreakc1330
discomfortc1350
griefa1375
tristourc1380
desolation1382
sichinga1387
tristesse1390
compassiona1400
rueinga1400
smarta1400
displeasure14..
gremec1400
heavity14..
dillc1420
notea1425
discomforturec1450
dolefulnessc1450
wandremec1450
regratec1485
doleance1490
trista1510
mispleasance1532
pathologiesa1586
balefulness1590
drearing1591
distressedness1592
woenessa1600
desertion1694
ruesomeness1881
schmerz1887
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. l. 2735 The wemen..tuke sic melancoly, That sum for wanes lap into the se.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Waeness, sorrow, vexation.
1837 T. Carlyle Let. 4 Mar. in Coll. Lett. T. & J. W. Carlyle (1981) IX. 167 I have written to America about poor Alick; and could greet [weep] for waeness.
1890 J. Coghill Poems, Songs, & Sonnets 16 The waeness o' the music brocht the tear intil my e'e.
1897 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 21 June 3/1 ‘High life on the Pirate isle’ was presented with much trueness and a little woeness in the third inning.
1923 R. L. Cassie Heid or Hert iv Thinkin' een wi' a kin' o' a hidden waeness i' them.
1996 V. B. Shaw Himpressions (new ed.) 67 Filled with woeness, these Sisters seem resigned to lifelong loneliness.
1998 S. Blackhall Millennium Blues 35 A waucht o waeness in yon drap Wad freeze hairt's bluid.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.a1600