different between whimper vs lament

English

Etymology

From dialectal whimp (“to whine”) +? -er (frequentative suffix). Compare German wimmern (“to whimper, whine”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w?mp?(?)/, /???mp?(?)/
• Rhymes: -?mp?(?)

Noun

whimper (plural whimpers)

1. A low intermittent sob.

Translations

Verb

whimper (third-person singular simple present whimpers, present participle whimpering, simple past and past participle whimpered)

1. To cry or sob softly and intermittently.

   The lonely puppy began to whimper as soon as we left the room.

   • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

     At the sight of Mr. Utterson, the housemaid broke into hysterical whimpering; and the cook, crying out "Bless God! it's Mr. Utterson," ran forward as if to take him in her arms.

2. To cry with a low, whining, broken voice; to whine; to complain.
   • March 22 1549, Hugh Latimer, third sermon preached before King Edward VI

     Was there ever yet preacher but there were gainsayers that spurned, that winced, that whimpered against him?

3. To say something in a whimpering manner.

   "Master, please don't punish me!" he whimpered.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:weep

Derived terms

• whimperative

Translations

English

Etymology

From French lamenter, from Latin l?mentor (“I wail, weep”), from l?menta (“wailings, laments, moanings”); with formative -mentum, from the root *la-, probably ultimately imitative. Also see latrare.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /l??m?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

lament (plural laments)

1. An expression of grief, suffering, sadness or regret.
2. A song expressing grief.

Derived terms

• lamentful (rare)

Translations

Verb

lament (third-person singular simple present laments, present participle lamenting, simple past and past participle lamented)

1. (intransitive) To express grief; to weep or wail; to mourn.

   • Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.

2. (transitive) To feel great sorrow or regret; to bewail.
   • 2014, Paul Doyle, "Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian, 18 October 2014:

     By the end, Sunderland were lucky to lose by the same scoreline Northampton Town suffered against Southampton, in 1921. The Sunderland manager, Gus Poyet, lamented that it was “the most embarrassed I’ve ever been on a football pitch, without a doubt”.

   • One laugh'd at follies, one lamented crimes.

Synonyms

• bewail

Translations

Related terms

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Mantle, manlet, mantel, mantle, mental

French

Verb

lament

1. third-person plural present indicative of lamer
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of lamer

Anagrams

• mêlant, mental