different between roar vs wail

English

Etymology

From Middle English roren, raren, from Old English r?rian (“to roar; wail; lament”), from Proto-Germanic *rair?n? (“to bellow; roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *rey- (“to shout; bellow; yell; bark”), perhaps of imitative origin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: rô, IPA^(key): /???/
• (General American) enPR: rôr, IPA^(key): /???/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: r?r, IPA^(key): /?o(?)?/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?o?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: raw (in non-rhotic accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Verb

roar (third-person singular simple present roars, present participle roaring, simple past and past participle roared)

1. (intransitive) To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.
2. To laugh in a particularly loud manner.

3. Of animals (especially the lion), to make a loud deep noise.
   • {1590 Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene Bk 1, Canto VI, XXIV, lines 6&7}

     Roaring bulls he would him make to tame.

4. Generally, of inanimate objects etc., to make a loud resounding noise.
   • How oft I crossed where carts and coaches roar.

5. (figuratively) To proceed vigorously.
6. (transitive) To cry aloud; to proclaim loudly.
   • 1639, John Ford, The Lady's Trial

     This last action will roar thy infamy.
7. To be boisterous; to be disorderly.
   • 1724, Gilbert Burnet, History of My Own Time

     It was a mad, roaring time, full of extravagance.

8. To make a loud noise in breathing, as horses do when they have a certain disease.
9. (Britain Yorkshire, North Midlands, informal) to cry

Translations

Noun

roar (plural roars)

1. A long, loud, deep shout, as of rage or laughter, made with the mouth wide open.
2. The cry of the lion.
   • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

     The Winkies were not a brave people, but they had to do as they were told. So they marched away until they came near to Dorothy. Then the Lion gave a great roar and sprang towards them, and the poor Winkies were so frightened that they ran back as fast as they could.

3. The deep cry of the bull.
4. A loud resounding noise.

   the roar of a motorbike

   • 1944, Ernie Pyle, Brave Men, University of Nebraska Press (2001), page 107:

     "Those lovely valleys and mountains were filled throughout the day and night with the roar of heavy shooting."

5. A show of strength or character.

Translations

Anagrams

• Raro, orra

Swedish

Verb

roar

1. present tense of roa.

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?l, IPA^(key): /we?l/, [we??]
• Rhymes: -e?l
• Homophone: wale
• Homophone: whale (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English w? (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wai.

The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14^th c.. The noun came from the verb.

Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)

1. (intransitive) To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
2. (intransitive) To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
3. (intransitive) To make a noise like mourning or crying.

4. (transitive) To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
5. (slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.

Derived terms

• bewail
• wailer
• wailingly

Translations

Noun

wail (plural wails)

1. A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish. [from 15^th c.]

2. Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

3. A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

Translations

References

Etymology 2

From Old Norse val (“choice”). Compare Icelandic velja (“to choose”). More at wale.

Verb

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”)
   • c. 1500, Robert Henryson, Template:The Testament of Cresseid

     Wailed wine and metes

References

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

Anagrams

• wali, wila, w?li

Asilulu

Noun

wail

1. water

References

• James T. Collins, The Historical Relationships of the Languages of Central Maluku, Indonesia (1983), page 70

Cebuano

Etymology

Blend of wala (“not”) +? ilhi (“known, recognized”)

Pronunciation

• (General Cebuano) IPA^(key): /?wa?il?/
• Rhymes: -il?
• Hyphenation: wa?il

Noun

wail

1. an insignificant person
2. an unknown person or thing
3. an unknown celebrity or politician