Regret

v. t. [imp. & p. p. REGRETTED; p. pr. & vb. n. REGRETTING.] [Fr. regretter, O. Fr. regretter; Lat. re, again, back, and queritari, to complain vehemently, v. intens. from queri, to complain; It. regrettare.]

1Sense 1. To grieve over; to lament; to be sorry for; to repent.

Calmly he looked on either life, and here Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear. Pope.

2Sense 2. To look back at with sorrowful longing; to lament the loss of, or separation from.

In a few hours, they [the Israelites] began to regret their slavery, and to murmur against their leader who had decoyed them from the savory fare of the house of bondage. Macaulay.

His army composed for the most part of recruits who regretted the plow from which they had been violently taken. Macaulay.

n. [Fr. regret, from regretter. See supra.]

1Sense 1. Pain of mind at something causing unhappiness; sorrowful longing; sorrow felt in looking back on something lost which had once been a source of enjoyment; grief; concern.

Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for the loss of a servant. Clarendon.

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

2Sense 2. Pain of conscience; remorse; as, a passionate regret at sin. Decay of Piety.

3Sense 3. Dislike; aversion. [Obs.] Decay of Piety.

Synonyms—Grief; concern; sorrow; lamentation; repentance; penitence; remorse; self-condemnation.—REGRET, REMORSE, REPENTANCE. We do not apply the word regret to that sorrow for the past which involves a sense of guilt; this belongs to remorse or repentance. We regret the loss or absence of friends, &c.; but the word is now more commonly applied to the pain we feel for lost opportunities, or for early follies, for carelessness, &c.