rue 
2. To repent ; feel remorse or regret. 
To late is now for me to rewe. 
Chaucer, Trotlus, v. 1070. 
O gin ye winna pay me, 
I here sail mak a vow, 
Before that ye come hame again, 
Ye sail ha'e cause to rue. 
Lamkin (Child's Ballads, III. 95X 
3. To have pity; have compassion or mercy: 
often followed by on or upon. 
In bittir bale nowe art thou boune, 
Out-castyn shal thou be for care, 
No man shal rewe of thy misfare. 
York Plays, p. 39. 
Therfor axe thou uierci, & y schal thee sane, 
With pitee y rue upon thee so. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 150. 
n, n i II, on this olde caytif in distresse. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 104. 
Rue on thy despairing lover ! 
Canst thou break his faithful heart ? 
Burns, Turn again, thou fair Eliza. 
rue 1 (r8), . [< ME. rewe, reowe, < AS. tireou; 
sorrow, regret, penance, repentance, = D. rowo 
= OHG - 
sorrow, 
5260 
ruff 
The wo-begone heroes of Communipaw eyed each other 
with rueful countenances. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 121. 
The accident was loud, and here before thee fifths of which belong to the large genus StrobilanOies or 
With rueful cry, yet what it was we hear not. to the type, Ruellia. 
Milton, s. A., 1. 1553. ru er (ro'er), n. [< ME. rewere; < rue 1 + -er 1 .] 
One who rues or pities. 
ruett, . [ME. met, ruett, ruwet, rewet, < AF. 
ruet, a trumpet ; prob. for OF. rouet, which is 
found in the sense of 'a spring of a gun,' lit. ' a 
little wheel'; cf. rouette, f., a little wheel, dim. 
of roue, a wheel : see rowel.] A small trumpet. 
He ... blew bus rounde rewet. 
Piert Plowman (CX vii. 400. 
=Syn. 3. Doleful, lugubrious, regretful. 
ruefully (ro'ful-i), adv. [< ME. rufully, rew- 
fullicJt, rewfulliche; < rueful + -fy2.] In a rue- 
t'ul manner. Specifically (at) Compassionately: pity. 
i ingly ; mercifully. 
Cryst [jinelh heuene 
Bothe to riche and to noujte riche that rewfuUich lybbeth. 
. 
>HG. hriuwa, riuwa, MHO. riuwe, G.reue, ruefulness (ro'ful-nes), . [< ME. 
row regret, repentance; from the verb: see reoufulnetsc; < rueful + *] T 
!,.] Sorrow; repentance. [Obsolete or state of being rueful. 
Piers Plowman (BX xiv. 152. ruewort (ro'wert), . A plant of the rue fam- 
(6) Pitiably ; lamentably ; deplorably. ily, or Butacese. Llndley. 
To see this ferly foode rufescence (rij-fes'ens), . [< rufescen(t) + 
Thus rufully Algal, -ce.] Tendency to be rufous; reddishness; a 
Rugged and rente on a roode, reddiah pnlnr 
is a rewfull sight. York Play, p. 425. rufe sc^ W-fes'ent), a. [< L. rufescen^s, 
ppr. of rufescere, tiecome reddish, < rufus, red: 
see rufous.'] Tending to be rufous; somewhat 
rufous, or verging toward a dull-red color. 
ruff 1 (ruf), n. [Early mod. E. ruffe; not found 
in earlier use, and prob. an abbr. of ruffle: 
VMM J. I I l*-t< . J. i * / Wl*l. I MffMf ^ lilt. / '((( ~ . -. -., '- 
Pg. ar-ruda = It. ruta = AS. rude = D. LG. ruit cov D e ln , a Bedroom ; dim. of rite, street, path, 
= Pr. Sp. Pg. rua = Olt. ruga, < ML. ruga, also 
run, place, street, path, perhaps < L. ruga, 
wrinkle: see ruga, ruge. The ML. ruta, rutta, 
a way, is a reflex of the Rom. forms of rupta, a 
way, path: see rut 1 , route 1 .'] If. The space 
between a bed and the wall. 
prov. Eng.] 
"I'm a man that, when he makes a bad trade, makes 
the most of it until he can make better. I'm for no rues 
and after-claps." A. B. Lonyntreet, Georgia Scenes, p. 29. 
rue 2 (r8), . [< ME. rue, ruwe, later rewe, < OF. 
(and F.) rue = Pr. ruda, rutha = Sp. ruda = 
= OHG. ruta, MHG. rute, G. raute = Sw. ruta 
= Dan. rude, rue, < L. ruta, < Gr. port/, rue, a 
Peloponnesian word for the common Gr. irf/- t a- 
vov, rue.] Any plant of 
the genus Ruta, espe- 
cially R. graveolens, the 
common or garden rue, 
a native of the Medi- 
terranean region and 
western Asia, and else- 
where common in cul- 
tivation. It is a woody 
herb of bushy habit, 2 or 3 
feet high, with decompound 
leaves, the leaflets of a blu- 
ish-green color, strongly dot- 
ted. The flowers are green- 
ish-yellow and corymbed, 
and are produced all sum- 
mer. The plant has a strong 
disagreeable odor, and the 
leaves are extremely acrid, even producing blisters. In 
(c) Sorrowfully ; mournfully ; lugubriously. 
Troylus hym cladde 
And rewfulliche his lady gan byholde. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 161. 
Dejected all, and ruefully dismayed. 
Dryden and Tate, Abs. and Achlt., ii. 929. 
reowfulnesse, 
_ The quality or 
state of being rueful, 
ruell-bonet, . Same as rewel-bone. 
ruelle (ro-el'), . [ME. ruel, < OF. ruelle, F. 
ruelle, older rule, a little street, path, lane ; ru- 
elle du Hot, or later simply ruelle, the space left 
between a bed and the wall ; hence later an al- 
see ruffle*-, w.] 1. A projecting band or frill, 
plaited or bristling, especially one worn around 
the neck. In the sixteenth century ruffs of muslin or 
lawn, often edged with lace, plaited or goffered, and stiffly 
Rue IKuta fra-i. 
And wo In winter-tyme with wakynge a nyghtes 
To ryse to the ruel to rocke the cradel. 
Piers Plowman (CX x. 79. 
The space thus left between the bed and the curtains 
was perhaps what was originally called in French the nt- 
die ... of the bed, a term which was afterwards given 
to the space between the curtains of the bed and the wall. 
Wright, Homes of Other Days, quoted by Skeat, 
[Notes on Piers Plowman, p. 122. 
2. Hence, a bedchamber in which persons of 
quality, especially ladies, in France during the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries held re- 
ceptions in the morning, to which persons dis- 
tinguished for learning, wit, etc., as well as 
those constituting society, were invited; hence, 
antiquity and the middle ages rue was highly esteemed as such a reception, where the events of the dav 
a medicine, and was believed to ward off contagion. It - i - J ' * - 
has the properties of a stimulant and antispasmodic, but 
accompanied by excitant and irritant tendencies. It Is 
not now officinal, but continues somewhat in popular use. 
In medieval folk-lore it was a common witches' drug. 
From its supposed virtues, or by association with the 
word rue, repentance, it was formerly called herb-of -grace. 
Here in this place 
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace : 
Eue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen, 
In the remembrance of a weeping queen. 
Shalt., Rich. II., ill. 4. 105. 
African rue. Same as Syrian rite. Black rue, the 
conifer Podocarpui spicata of New Zealand. See matai. 
Fen-rue, a European meadow-rue, Thalictrum flamim. 
Goat's rue, Oalega oj/icinalis (se^, Galega) ; also, the re- 
lated Tephrosia Virginiana or catgut in the United States 
and T.cinerea \ni\ie West Indies. Oil Of rue. See oil. T, ,,. , .. ,,. . 
Syrian rue. See hannel and Peganum. Wall rue. -KUellia (ro-el i-a), n. 
See AfrpleniuitL. 
rue-anemone 
(ro'a-nem'o-ue), n. A little 
American wild flower, Anemone tlialictroirles, alous plants, of the order Acanthacese, type of 
resembling both anemone and meadow-rue. the tribe Ruelliex and subtribe Euruelliese. it 
rue-bargain (ro'bar'gan), . 1 . A bad bargain. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 2. A 
forfeit paid for withdrawing from a bargain. 
He said it would cost him a guinea of rue-baryain to the 
man who had bought his pony, before he could get it back 
again. Scott, Rob Roy, xxvii. 
rue-fern (rS'fern), . Same as icall-rue. 
rueful (ro'ful), a. [< ME. ruful, reicful, reuful. 
reufol; < rue 1 , n., + -ful.] if. Full of pity or 
compassion; pitying. 
Crlste of his curteysie shal conforte sow atte laste 
And rewarde alle dowble ricchesse that reuful hertes hab- 
bet h. Piert Plowman (BX xiv. 14H. 
blue corollas an inch long, is found in Mexico, etc., and in 
Jamaica, where it is called Chrwtmae-pride. R. eiliosa is 
a pretty-flowered hardy species of the interior and south- 
ern United States. For the plant formerly called R. indi- 
2. Worthy of pity or sorrow ; lamentable piti- tuberom is the manyroot, also called ipiritleaf and (./a 
able; deplorable; sorry. 
"That was a reu/Mrestitucion,"quath Repentaunce "for 
sothe ; 
Thow wolthongy [hang] heye ther-fore her other in helle ! " 
Piers Plowman (C), vii. 237. gotica, see room?. 
A ruefuU spectacle of death tind ghastly drere. Ruellieae (ro-e-li'e-e), . pi. 
Speiwer, V. Q., I. viii. 40. ' 
"Alas!" said I, " what ruefu' chance 
Has twin'd ye o' your stately trees?" 
Burns, Destruction of the Woods near Drumlanrig. 
3. Expressive of regret, sorrow, or misfortune; 
mournful; sad; melancholy; lugubrious. 
Ruff. Close of i6th century. 
starched, were worn by both men and women, some of 
them very broad, projecting six Inches or more in all di- 
rections ; narrower ruffs of similar material have formed 
a part of the costume of women at different epochs, down 
to the present day. 
Our bombast hose, our treble double ruffes, 
Our sutes of Silke, our comely garded capes. 
Oascoigne, Steele Olas (ed. Arber), p. 60. 
We shall have him here to-morrow with his best ruf on. 
Shale., Pericles, iv. 2. 111. 
Ru/s, often of exaggerated amplitude and of a painfully 
severe stiffness, were worn by both sexes ; sometimes open 
in front and rising like an expanded fan around the throat 
and head ; more generally they completely encircled the 
throat, and rested, nearly at right angles to it, on the 
shoulders. Encyc. Brit., VI. 472. 
2. Something resembling a ruff in form or posi- 
tion. Specifically (o) In ornith., a packet, collar, or other 
set of lengthened, loosened, peculiarly colored, orotherwise 
distinguished feathers on the neck of a bird, as the con- 
dor, the ruff, certain grebes and grouse, etc. Also called 
ruffle. (V) A band of long hair growing round the neck 
of certain dogs. 
A ruff, as the loose skin covered with long hah- round 
the neck [of the English pointer] is called. 
Dogi of Great Britain and America, p. 88. 
(c) The loose top of the boot worn In the seventeenth cen- 
tury turned over and made somewhat ornamental: same 
as luait-iiiji, 2 (b). Sometimes the top was of a different lea- 
ther from the rest of the boot. Spanish leather is espe- 
cially mentioned, and the edge was sometimes ornamented 
with gold lace or similar passement. 
He will look upon his boot and sing; mend the ruf and 
sing. ... I know a man that had this trick of melancholy 
sold a goodly manor for a song. Shot., All's Well, iii. 2. 7. 
(d) In mach., an annular ridge formed on a shaft or other 
piece, commonly at a journal, to prevent motion endwise. 
Thjs, In the cut, a, a are 
ruffs limiting the length a a 
of the journal b, to which 
the pillows or brasses are 
exactly fitted, so that the 
shaft is prevented from Ruffs on a shaft, 
moving on end. Ruffs 
sometimes consist of separate rings fixed in the positions In- 
tended by set-screws, etc. They are then called loose rufs. 
_ _ f ^ % __ 3f. Figuratively, that which is outspread or 
maica) snapdragon. Jt. paniculate, a trailing ^plant with made public ; an open display ; a public exhi- 
hlll** I'.nrnllfla fln Inpli Inner ia fi in nil in \li.vi.-i L of*> onrlln 1 : . : 11 . __i_ii _>j_. ?i_ 
etc., were discussed. In the seventeenth century the 
character of the ruelles was distinctively literary and 
artistic ; but in the following century they degenerated 
into mere occasions for gossip and frivolity. 
The poet who flourished in the scene is damned in the 
ruelle. Dryden, Ded. of the ^Eneid. 
A Voice persuades. 
Whether on Theatres loud Strains we hear, 
Or in Ruelles some soft Egyptian Air. 
Congrem, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love. 
The lady received her visitors reposing on that throne 
of beauty, a bed placed in an alcove ; the toilet was mag- 
nificently arranged. The space between the bed and the 
wall was called the Ruelle, the diminutive of la Rue ; and 
in this narrow street, or "Fop's alley," walked the fa- 
voured. /. D' Israeli, Lit. Char. Men of Genius, p. 413. 
[NL. (Plumier, 1703), 
named after Jean Kuel, a French botanist of 
the 16th century.] A large genus of gamopet- 
is characterized by a corolla with slender base, enlarged 
throat, and five lobes above, which are equal or posteri- 
orly united, hy a style recurved at the awl-shaped apex, 
and by a two-celled ovary with three to ten ovules in each 
cell, followed by an oblong-linear or club-shaped capsule, 
which is roundish or furrowed, and often contracted at 
the base into a long solid stalk. There are about 150 
species, principally tropical and American, with a few 
extratropical in North and South America, 2 species ex- 
tending into the northern United States. They are herbs 
or shrubs, generally hairy, bearing opposite and usually 
entire leaves. Their flowers are often of large size and 
are nearly or quite sessile in the axils of leaves or bracts, 
sometimes forming a scattered cyme or panicle. They are 
commonly violet, lilac, white, or red, rarely yellow or or- 
ange. Some species are desirable in greenhouses. R. 
bition, generally marked by pride or vanity. 
It were not greatly amiss a little to consider that he, 
which in the ruff oi his freshest Jollity was fain to cry M. 
Churchyard a mercy in print, may be orderly driven to cry 
more peccavis than one. 0. Harvey, Four Letters. 
4. A breed of domestic pigeons; a kind of 
Jacobin having a ruff. 
._, .,, ,.. [NL. (Nees von 
Esenbeck, 1832), < Kuellia + -ex.'] A large tribe 
of gamopetalous plants, of the order Acantha- 
cese, characterized by contorted corolla-lobes, ruff 1 (ruf), v. t. [< ruf 1 , n., or abbr. of ruffle 1 , 
by ovules commonly from two to eight in num- v - Cf. It. arruffare, disorder, ruffle the hair.] 
ber in each ovary-cell, and by compressed seeds. It. To plait, pucker, or wrinkle; draw up in 
It embraces 37 genera, containing about 533 species, three plaits or folds. 
