weep

Etymology 1

From Middle English wepen, from Old English wēpan (“to weep, complain, bewail, mourn over, deplore”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōpijan, from Proto-Germanic *wōpijaną (“to weep”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂b- (“to call, cry, complain”). Cognate with Scots wepe, weip (“to weep”), Saterland Frisian wapia (“to cry, complain”), Icelandic æpa (“to yell, shout”).

verb

1. To cry; to shed tears, especially when accompanied with sobbing or other difficulty speaking, as an expression of emotion such as sadness or joy.
2. To lament; to complain.
3. To give off moisture in small quantities, e.g. due to condensation.
   1. (medicine, of a wound or sore) To produce secretions.
   2. To flow in drops; to run in drops.
      a weeping spring, which discharges water slowly
4. To hang the branches, as if in sorrow; to be pendent; to droop; said of a plant or its branches.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To weep over; to bewail.
   Fair Venus wept the sad disaster Of having lost her favorite dove. 1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove

noun

1. A session of crying.
   Sometimes you just have to have a good weep.
2. A sob.
   He's coming, too, and we both want to mingle our weeps over the wine-cup[.] 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York: Doubleday & McClure, published 1899, page v. 62

Etymology 2

Imitative of its cry.

noun

1. A lapwing; wipe, especially, a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).