To make sad or sorrowful; to sadden or cause distress to someone (archaic or literary usage).
From French contristare, from Latin con- (together/intensifier) + tristis (sad). The Latin root tristis meant sad or gloomy, and con- added force to the meaning.
This beautiful obsolete verb disappeared from English because simpler words like 'sadden' took over, but it survives in poetry and philosophy texts where sadness is treated as something grand.
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