Wail vs Plaint - What's the difference?
wail | plaint | Related terms |
A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.
To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
To make a noise like mourning or crying.
To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
(slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.
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(obsolete) To choose; to select.
* Henryson
(poetic, or, archaic) A lament or woeful cry.
* 1827 , Maria Elizabeth Budden,
A complaint.
* 1897 , Henry James, What Maisie Knew :
An accusation.
Wail is a related term of plaint.
As nouns the difference between wail and plaint
is that wail is a prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish while plaint is (poetic|or|archaic) a lament or woeful cry .As a verb wail
is to cry out, as in sorrow or anguish or wail can be (obsolete) to choose; to select.wail
English
Etymology 1
Probably from (etyl)Etymology inWebster's Dictionary
Noun
(en noun)- She let out a loud, doleful wail .
- The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
- A bird's wail in the night.
Verb
(en verb)- The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
- to wail one's death
- (Shakespeare)
Derived terms
* wailer * wailinglyReferences
Etymology 2
Compare Icelandic word for "choice".Verb
(en verb)- Wailed wine and meats
plaint
English
Noun
(en noun)Nina, An Icelandic Tale, page 11:
- In the first paroxysm of his grief, Ingolfr exclaimed, (what sorrowing heart has not echoed his plaint ?) that he could never more taste of joy.
- she seemed to repeat, though with perceptible resignation, her plaint of a moment before. ‘Your father, darling, is a very odd person indeed.’
- Once the plaint had been made there was nothing that could be done to revoke it.