Etymology From Middle English wepen, from Old English wēpan (“to weep, complain, bewail, mourn over, deplore”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōpijan, from Proto-Germanic *wōpijaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂b- (“to call, cry, complain”). Cognate with Scots weep (“to weep”), Saterland Frisian wapia (“to cry, complain”), Icelandic æpa (“to yell, shout”), Proto-Slavic *vъpiti (“to weep”).
1
To cry; to shed tears, especially when accompanied with sobbing or other difficulty speaking, as an expression of emotion such as sadness or joy.
They wept together in silence.1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, part I:
2
To lament; to complain.
They weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 11:13:
› To give off moisture in small quantities…
3
Medicine, SciencesOf a wound or sore To produce secretions.
4
To flow in drops; to run in drops.
a weeping spring, which discharges water slowly
The blood weeps from my heart.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
5
To hang the branches, as if in sorrow; to be pendent; to droop; said of a plant or its branches.
The willows weep and the moonbeams sleep / On the mariner's silent grave.1893, Edward William Cole, The best song book in the world, page 314:
Fair Venus wept the sad disaster Of having lost her favorite dove.1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove:
[…] Which weep a loss for ever new, A void where heart on heart reposed; And, where warm hands have prest and closed, Silence, till I be silent too.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 20:
Etymology From Middle English wepen, from Old English wēpan (“to weep, complain, bewail, mourn over, deplore”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōpijan, from Proto-Germanic *wōpijaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂b- (“to call, cry, complain”). Cognate with Scots weep (“to weep”), Saterland Frisian wapia (“to cry, complain”), Icelandic æpa (“to yell, shout”), Proto-Slavic *vъpiti (“to weep”).
1
A session of crying.
Sometimes you just have to have a good weep.
2
A sob.
He's coming, too, and we both want to mingle our weeps over the wine-cup[.]1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York: Doubleday & McClure, published 1899, page v. 62:
3
A red or reddish liquid that seeps out from raw muscular meat during storage, consisting mostly of water and protein; "meat juice".
weep
noun
Etymology Imitative of its cry.
1
A lapwing; wipe, especially, a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).