hélas
French edit
Etymology 1 edit
Inherited from Old French elas, variant of a las, from a (“ah”) + las, from Latin lassus (“weary”).
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
hélas
- alas; exclamatory or declarative conjunction expressing affliction, regret, disappointment.
- 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number):
- Tough Abbé Maury, when the obscure country Royalist grasps his hand with transport of thanks, answers, rolling his indomitable brazen head: "Hélas, Monsieur, all that I do here is as good as simply nothing."
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Dutch: helaas
Etymology 2 edit
See héler.
Pronunciation edit
- (aspirated h) IPA(key): /e.la/
Verb edit
hélas
- second-person singular past historic of héler
Noun edit
hélas m (plural hélas)
Further reading edit
- “hélas”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.