Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

lacrimae rerum

/ˈlækɹɪmaɪ ˈɹeɪɹəm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: lacrimae re-rum
IPA: /ˈlækɹɪmaɪ ˈɹeɪɹəm/

19

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The “tears of things”; the inherent tragedy of existence.

Example Sentences

"Louis Macneice in a note on Eliot and the Adolescent remarks that “anyhow lacrimae rerum are not a monopoly of the mature adult.” Indeed the lacrimae rerum of the adolescent are likely to be far more bitter and consuming than those of the mature adult learning to care and not to care."
"So too is Byles's depiction of Brooke feeling the weight of lacrimae rerum as he looks from the deck of his ship towards the unknown lands in which he will indeed lie buried, and realizes that his duty to his country requires the renunciation of his personal dreams for the future."

Etymology

An allusion to Virgil’s Aeneid (29–19 BC), book I, line 462; Latin: lacrimae (“tears”, the nominative plural form of lacrima, “tear”) + rērum (“of things”, the genitive plural form of rēs, “thing”) = “tears of things”.

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ˈlækɹɪmaɪ ˈɹeɪɹəm/

Inflected Forms

lacrimæ rerum (alternative) lachrymae rerum (alternative) lachrymæ rerum (alternative)

Questions

How do you pronounce lacrimae rerum?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈlækɹɪmaɪ ˈɹeɪɹəm/.
What does lacrimae rerum mean?: The “tears of things”; the inherent tragedy of existence.
Where does lacrimae rerum come from?: An allusion to Virgil’s Aeneid (29–19 BC), book I, line 462; Latin: lacrimae (“tears”, the nominative plural form of lacrima, “tear”) + rērum (“of things”, the genitive plural form of rēs, “thing”) = “tears of things”.

How to pronounce lacrimae rerum

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