different between regret vs attrition

English

Etymology

From Middle English regretten, from Old French regreter, regrater (“to lament”), from re- (intensive prefix) + *greter, *grater (“to weep”), from Frankish *gr?tan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *gr?tan? (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *??reh?d- (“to sound”); and Frankish *greutan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutan? (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?rewd- (“to weep, be sad”), equivalent to re- +? greet. Cognate with Middle High German gr?zan (“to cry”), Old English gr?tan (“to weep, greet”), Old English gr?otan (“to weep, lament”), Old Norse gráta (“to weep, groan”), Gothic ???????????????????????? (gr?tan, “to weep”). More at greet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??????t/, /??????t/, /?i????t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Verb

regret (third-person singular simple present regrets, present participle regretting, simple past and past participle regretted)

1. 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.
2. (more generally) To feel sorry about (any thing).

3. (archaic, transitive) To miss; to feel the loss or absence of.
   • 1845, The Church of England Magazine (volume 19, page 301)

     He more than ever regretted his home, and with increased desire longed to see his family.

Usage notes

• "Regret" is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (the -ing form), except in set phrases with tell, say, and inform, where the to infinitive is used. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

• regretter

Translations

Noun

regret (countable and uncountable, plural regrets)

1. Emotional pain on account of something done or experienced in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing.
   • 1828, Thomas Macaulay, John Dryden

     What man does not remember with regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe?

   • From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections.

2. (obsolete) Dislike; aversion.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dr. H. More to this entry?)

Derived terms

• regretful

Translations

See also

• remorse
• repentance

Further reading

• regret in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• regret in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

From Middle French regret, from Old French regret (“lamentation, complaint”), deverbal of regreter (“to lament”), from re- (intensive prefix-) +? greter (to weep), from Frankish *grêtan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *gr?tan? (“to weep”) and Frankish *grêotan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutan? (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrew- (“to weep, be sad”). More at regret.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.???/

Noun

regret m (plural regrets)

1. regret
2. nostalgia

Derived terms

Related terms

• regretter

Further reading

• “regret” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Interlingua

Noun

regret (plural regrets)

1. regret, repentance

Related terms

• regrettar
• regrettabile

Romanian

Etymology

From French regret.

Noun

regret n (plural regrete)

1. regret

Declension

English

Etymology

From Latin attritio (“a rubbing against”), from the verb attritus, past participle of atterere (“to wear”), from ad- (“to, towards”) + terere (“to rub”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [??t????n]
• Rhymes: -???n

Noun

attrition (countable and uncountable, plural attritions)

1. Wearing or grinding down by friction.
2. The gradual reduction in a tangible or intangible resource due to causes that are passive and do not involve productive use of the resource.
3. (human resources) A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through retirement, resignation, or death.
4. (sciences) The loss of participants during an experiment.
5. (theology) Imperfect contrition or remorse.
6. (dentistry) The wearing of teeth due to their grinding.
7. (linguistics) The loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language.

Synonyms

• (employment reduction by natural causes): natural wastage

Antonyms

• accretion

Derived terms

Related terms

• contrition

Translations

Verb

attrition (third-person singular simple present attritions, present participle attritioning, simple past and past participle attritioned)

1. (transitive) To grind or wear down through friction.

   Synonym: attrit

   • 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade, Book 9, p. 189,^[2]

     […] He took her in his arms

     And kissed her long and wetly,

     Till, attritioned by her charms,

     His will collapsed completely.

2. (transitive) To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out).
   • 1973, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education, Hearings (page 186)

     […] but the heart of the health services in New York will have to attrition out some 3,000 to 5,000 jobs.

   • 1989, Herbert S. White, “The Future of Library and Information Science Education” in Librarians and the Awakening from Innocence, Boston: G.K. Hall, p. 86,^[3]

     […] expenses can be cut, by attritioning faculty vacancies […]

3. (intransitive) To undergo a reduction in number.

Translations

References

Anagrams

• titration

French

Etymology

From Latin attr?ti?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.t?i.sj??/

Noun

attrition f (plural attritions)

1. attrition

Derived terms

• guerre d'attrition