Deep sadness, grief, or a serious problem or misfortune that causes suffering.
From Old English 'wā' or 'woe,' which is imitative in origin—the sound itself mimics the cry of someone in pain. It's related to similar exclamatory words across Germanic languages.
The word 'woe' is ancient onomatopoeia—it literally sounds like a moan of pain, and people have been using this exact same sound to express sorrow for over a thousand years across different languages.
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