A perennial suffrutescent plant (Ruta graveolens), having a strong, heavy odor and a bitter taste; herb of grace. It is used in medicine. Then purged with euphrasy and rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see. Milton. They [the exorcists] are to try the devil by holy water, incense, sulphur, rue, which from thence, as we suppose, came to be called herb of grace. Jer. Taylor.
Fig.: Bitterness; disappointment; grief; regret. Goat's rue. See under Goat. -- Rue anemone, a pretty springtime flower (Thalictrum anemonides) common in the United States. -- Wall rue, a little fern (Asplenium Ruta-muraria) common on walls in Europe.
To lament; to regret extremely; to grieve for or over. Chaucer. I wept to see, and rued it from my heart. Chapmen. Thy will Chose freely what it now so justly rues. Milton.
To cause to grieve; to afflict. [Obs.] "God wot, it rueth me." Chaucer.
To repent of, and withdraw from, as a bargain; to get released from. [Prov. Eng.]
To have compassion. [Obs.] God so wisly [i. e., truly] on my soul rue. Chaucer. Which stirred men's hearts to rue upon them. Ridley.
To feel sorrow and regret; to repent. Work by counsel and thou shalt not rue. Chaucer. Old year, we'll dearly rue for you. Tennyson.
Sorrow; repetance. [Obs.] Shak.
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