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Wail vs Plaint - What's the difference?

wail | plaint | Related terms |

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 in Webster's Dictionary

Noun

(en noun)
  • A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
  • She let out a loud, doleful wail .
  • Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
  • The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
    A bird's wail in the night.
  • A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
  • To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
  • To make a noise like mourning or crying.
  • The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
  • To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
  • to wail one's death
    (Shakespeare)
  • (slang, music) To perform with great liveliness and force.
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  • Derived terms
    * wailer * wailingly
    References

    Etymology 2

    Compare Icelandic word for "choice".

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To choose; to select.
  • * Henryson
  • Wailed wine and meats
    (Webster 1913) English terms with homophones

    plaint

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (poetic, or, archaic) A lament or woeful cry.
  • * 1827 , Maria Elizabeth Budden, 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.
  • A complaint.
  • * 1897 , Henry James, What Maisie Knew :
  • she seemed to repeat, though with perceptible resignation, her plaint of a moment before. ‘Your father, darling, is a very odd person indeed.’
  • An accusation.
  • Once the plaint had been made there was nothing that could be done to revoke it.

    Anagrams

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