▪ I. ruth1 Now arch.
(ruːθ)
Forms: α. 2–5 reuþe, 3 reu(h)ðe, ræuðe, 4–5 reuthe (5 -þthe, -thþe), reuþ (4 reut), 4–6 reuth (5 reutht); 3 rewðe, -de, 3, 5 reweþe, 4–5 rewþe, 4–6 rewthe, 4–7 rewth (5 -eth). β. 3 reo(w)ðe, reoþe; 3 reouþe, -ðe, -de, 4–5 reouþ, -th. γ. 2–5 rouþe, 4–5 routhe, 5, 7 routh (5 rought); 2 rowðe, 4–5 rowthe, 5 rowith; 4 rau-, rawþe, 4–5 raw-, 5 rauthe, roth. δ. 4–5 ruþe, 4–6 ruthe; 4 ruþ, 5– ruth, 6–7 rueth.
[Early ME. reuðe, rewðe, etc., f. rewen rue v.1 Cf. OE. hreow rue n.1, and for the ending, ON. hryggð.]
1. The quality of being compassionate; pitifulness; the feeling of sorrow for another; compassion, pity.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 149 Heorte sar for þe monnes aȝene sunne, and rowðe for his emcristenes wawe. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 63 Pietas hatte on of ðese hali mihtes, þat is, reuhðe on engelisc. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2339 Ðo cam iosep swilc rewðe up-on, he dede halle ut ðe toðere gon. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 858 Al-þaȝ..ȝe remen for rauþe wythouten reste. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 349 If therewith-al in you ther be no routhe, Than is it harm ye liven. c 1440 Jacob's Well 310 Ȝyue þe poore ruthe & compassioun of þin herte. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 966 Knichtis ramyt for reuth, schir Gawyne thai rew. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 316 For neuer bot in a gentill hert is generit ony ruth. 1576 Turberv. Venerie lxii. 177 And yet can man..Vse wracke for rewth? can murder like him best? c 1614 Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas iii. 413 With dying groanes..For rewth would rent a flinty heart a sunder. 1637 Milton Lycidas 163 Look homeward Angel now, and melt with ruth. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. lii, Oft they snatch the pen, As if inspir'd,..Then write, and blot, as would your ruth engage. 1774 Beattie Minstr. ii. xxx, If my desultory strain with ruth And indignation makes thine eyes o'erflow. 1808 Scott Marm. ii. xix, Upon whose wrinkled brow alone, Nor ruth, nor mercy's trace, is shown. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xvi, He..was filled with ruth for the poor wrong-headed youngster. 1878 S. Cox Salv. Mundi i. (ed. 3) 6 Another slight but significant indication of this mood of ruth and pity. |
| Comb. 1603 Florio Montaigne iii. iv. (1632) 467 All with an eager continuall ruth mooving motion. |
b. Frequent in phr. to have ruth, usually const. † of, on, or upon. Now arch.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 79 Þa com þer an helendis Mon, and heuede rouþe of him. a 1225 Ancr. R. 32 Habbeð reouþe of þeo þet beoð ine stronge temptaciuns. c 1275 Passion our Lord 322 in O.E. Misc. 46 He is wrþe to beo ded... Of þe kynge of heuene none reuþe hi nedde. c 1300 Beket 808 Somme gode men that ther stode hadde of him Ruthe ynouȝ. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 972 Þer-of clatered þe cloudes þat kryst myȝt haf rawþe. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame i. 332 Allas that euer had routhe Any woman on any man. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8511 He hade no ruthe of hor remyng. a 1450 Myrc 1361 Hast þou in herte rowþe I-had, Of hem þat were nede be-stad? 1509 Fisher Serm. Wks. (1876) 281 These two persones had so grete ruthe and compassyon of theyr maysters. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 170 O Lord,..Haif reuth on me thy Creature. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiii, Have ruth on me, and let me go! 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 191 She has no one to raise her up; none to have ruth upon her. 1890 Conan Doyle White Company xiv, Methinks that I should have ruth upon you. |
c. So to take ruth.
| 1540–54 J. Croke 13 Ps. (Percy Soc.) 8 Vppon me then thou wolt take ruthe. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1220/1 Taking ruth of their miserable estates. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxvii. v, Will God no more take ruth? |
2. Contrition, repentance; remorse. Now rare.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 49 Vte we..habben on ure heorte sorinesse and reuðe of ure synnes. a 1300 Cursor M. 25749 [To] mak to preist his costes cuth, Wit reuth of hert and scrifte o mouth. a 1603 Eliz. Grymeston Misc. (1604) F 4 b, Thou pardon promisest, where hearts true ruth is showne. 1603 J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 41/1 Thus when our Teares doe testifie our ruth, We neede not..of them be asham'd. 1855 M. Arnold Stanzas Grande Chartreuse 77, I seek these Anchorites, not in ruth, To curse and to deny your truth. |
3. Sorrow, grief, distress; † lamentation.
| c 1205 Lay. 12970 Þat word com to herede, hu þe king iuaren hafde; þa wes muchel reoðe. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2340 Nalde ȝe neauer..makien reowðe for me, þe fare to eche reste. a 1300 Cursor M. 24054 Moder, traistnes of vr trewþe, Don vs to rewen wit þi rewþe. c 1384 Chaucer L.G.W. 669 Cleopatra, This woful Cleopatrie hath made swich routhe That ther nys tonge noon that may yt telle. a 1400–50 Alexander 2813, I may noȝt ryde ȝow to reschow, my reuthe is þe mare. 1562 Legh Armory 209 Where⁓fore, leaue of this rewthe, and seke to liue by Hope. 1591 Spenser Vis. Petrarch 25 O, how great ruth, and sorrowfull assay, Doth vex my spirite with perplexitie. 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. i. xxii, Here lies, to each her Parents ruth, Mary, the Daughter of their youth. 1654 E. Johnson Wonder-w. Provid. 116 The supreame judge of all the World..stood not as an idle spectator beholding his peoples Ruth. c 1800 H. K. White Childhood ii. 4 That every age and rank is born to ruth. 1841–6 Longfellow Maidenhood xiv, Bear through sorrow, wrong, and ruth, In thy heart the dew of youth. 1868 Kirk Chas. the Bold v. iii. III. 441 Flanders and Hainault had their share of ruth for gallant sons and stalwart sires. |
† 4. a. Matter or occasion of sorrow or regret. Obs.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 219 Acke nu is reweþe, for nu is euerihc man ifo þare he solde fren be. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2258 Þe brutons..bigonne vaste to fle, Some in roches, some in wodes, þat reuþe it was to se. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 94 (Kölbing), Sone þat traitour..brak his treuþe & dede hem wrong, & þat was reuþe. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 501 Now is routhe to rede, how þe red noble Is reuerenced. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 330 The more routhe is, allas! c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 1129 The roy ramand ful raith, that reuth wes to se. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems iv. 91 Gret reuth it wer that so suld be. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. v. 6 That is great woe, And wondrous ruth to all, that shall it heare. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes 96 Serm. (1661) 223 If he were not a man, but some other unreasonable creature, it were great ruth to see him so handled. |
† b. Mischief; calamity; ruin. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 20169 Hundes in þam reode mid reouðe hine imeteð. Ibid. 21764 Þenne is þat folc buten wene þat reouðe heom is to cumene of summes cunnes leoden. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 7693 (Kölbing), He dede ribaudes ten þousinde Bren þat þai miȝtten finde; So he dede michel rewþe. a 1400–50 Alexander 4010 It is better for to bate & on þe bent faile, Þan se þis rewthe on ȝour renkis. 1584–7 Greene Carde of Fancie Wks. (Grosart) IV. 22 Thou shalt finde..lusting Loue the load-stone to ruth and ruine. 1594 Nashe & Marlowe Dido 111, Yet now I doe repent me of his ruth, And wish that I had neuer wrongd him so. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 48 See here the fall of youth, Begun in pleasure, but wouen vp in rueth. 1647 Trapp Marrow Gd. Authors in Comm. Ep. 670 Cholerike kings and persons of great note..hereby have wrought their own ruth and ruine. |
† 5. With a and pl. in senses 3 and 4. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 25506 Þis lond heo for-radden mid ræuðen uniuoȝen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 54 Biginnunge & rote of þis ilke reouðe was a liht sihðe. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 562, I trowe that to a norice in this cas It had ben hard this rewthe for to se. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 333 And thanne I scholde in such a wise In rewardinge of my servise Be ded; me thenkth it were a rowthe. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 1450 For sothfastly it is to gret a routhe To recorde how ȝe haue hir vsed. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn iv. 20 After the rewthes and lamentacions of the kynge. Ibid. xlv. 174 She lened vpon a wyndowe that loked vpon the see, makyng full pyteouse rewthes for her loue that she sawe. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 227 They say it is a ruth to see thy louer neede. |
▪ II. ruth2 Anglo-Ind.
(rʌt)
Also rut, rutt.
[a. Hindī rath (rʌth), a car, carriage, coach, etc.]
A native vehicle or carriage.
| α 1813 Mrs. Sherwood in Life xxv. (1847) 422 When these girls travel, they generally go hidden by crimson curtains in a rutt or car drawn by bullocks. 1829 J. Shipp Mem. II. 183, I took the liberty of taking the rut and horse to camp as prize property. |
| β 1834 [A. Prinsep] Baboo II. ix. 176 The driver of the ruth had been found. 1866 T. Seaton Cadet to Colonel xvii. 364 Hodson stopped the ruth.., and made the three prisoners descend. 1901 Kipling Kim iv, Kim marked down a gaily ornamented ruth or family bullock-cart. |
▪ III. ruth
variant of routh a. Sc.