Etymology
1. "to remember with distress or longing," c.1300, from O.Fr.
regreter "long after, bewail, lament someone's death," from
re-, intensive prefix +
-greter, possibly from Frankish (cf. O.E.
grætan "to weep;" O.N.
grata "to weep, groan"), from P.Gmc.
*gretan "weep." Replaced O.E.
ofþyncan, from
of- "off, away," here denoting opposition +
þyncan "seem, seem fit" (as in
methinks). The noun is first recorded 1533.
Regretfully incorrectly in place of
regrettably is attested from 1976.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Italic *wre-
4. Latin re-der.
5. Old French re-
6. Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁d-der.
7. Proto-Germanic *grētaną
8. Frankish *grātander.
9. Old French *greter
10. Old French regreterbor.
11. Middle English regretten
12. English regret
13. From Middle English regretten, regreten, from Old French regreter, regrater (“to lament”), from re- (intensive prefix) + *greter, *grater (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁d- (“to sound”); and Frankish *greutan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- (“to weep, be sad”), equivalent to re- + greet. Cognate with Old High German grāzan (“to cry”), Old English grǣtan (“to weep, greet”), Old English grēotan (“to weep, lament”), Old Norse gráta (“to weep, groan”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (grētan, “to weep”). More at greet. See: Old French '
regreter', Proto-Germanic '
*grētaną', Proto-Germanic '
*greutaną', Old High German 'grāzan'.
Verbs referencing "regret"
Danish
græde, Ido regretar.