Forms: see below. [OE. téar = OFris. târ, ON. tár (Sw. tår, Da. taar, taare), contr. from earlier OE. *teahr, *teaʓr, teaʓor, ONorthumb. tehr = OHG. zahar, zahhar (MHG. zaher, zâr, Ger. zähre), Goth. tagr; cogn. with Gr. δάκρ-υ, OL. dacrima (L. lacrima, -uma), OPr. dacr, dêr, Welsh dagr tear. The medial h or ȝ, already lost in OE., is found as ch in 16th c. Sc.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
α. OE. teaʓor, ONorthumb. teher, tæher, tehher, tehr; 5–6 Sc. techyr (pl. techrys), tichwr, teicher.
Guthlac (E.E.T.S.), 1340. Teaʓor yðum weol hate hleordropan.
a. 950. Rituale Eccl. Dunelm. (Surtees), 40. Folces tehhero eft bisih (gloss on populi lacrimas respice). Ibid., 192. Pund saltes, of ðon sindon salto tehero.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark ix. 24. Mið teherum he ʓecuæð ic ʓelefo. Ibid., Luke vii. 38. Mið tæherum vel tearum. Ibid., 44. Mið tearum vel tehrum.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IV. xii. 5. With cheikis freklit, and all of tichwris [ed. 1553 teris] bysprent. Ibid., XIII. Prol. 26. At euery pilis point and cornis croppis The techrys [ed. 1553 teicheris] stude, as lemand beriall droppis.
β. 1–3 téar (teor), 1–6 ter, 2 tiar, 3 ti(e)r, tær, 4 tyar, 4–5 teer, 4–6 tere, 5 terre, 5–6 teere, tyer, 5–8 Sc. teir, 6–7 teare, 6– tear.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., x. Fulneah dead for tearum & for unrotnesse.
a. 900. trans. Bæda’s Eccl. Hist., IV. xxix. [xxviii.] § 2. Mæniʓe þara broðra … tearas guton.
c. 975. Rushw. Gosp., Mark ix. 24. Mið teorum [Lindisf. teherum] he ʓicwæð ic ʓilefo.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 292. Wiþ mist & wiþ ter.
a. 1175. Cotton Hom., 217. Al swa an huni tiar felle upe ȝiure hierte.
c. 1200. Vices & Virt., 57. Mid bitere teares.
c. 1200. Ormin, 13849. Þurrh beȝȝske & sallte tæress.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 654. Wiþ tieres al birunne. Ibid., 960. Spak wiþ bidere tires.
13[?]. Cursor M., 25551. Wit tere [Gött. ter] or ei.
1340. Ayenb., 173. Y-kuegt … be tyares of ssrifte.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. II. 205. She þis haþ waished my feet wiþ teeris.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 199. I haue … Seyn thy terris.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 489/1. Teere, of wepynge, lacrima.
c. 1489. Caxton, Blanchardyn, xxxiii. 123. He fonde him the terres at the eyes of hym.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, ix. 15. With teiris of sorrow.
1563. Winȝet, Four Scoir Thre Quest., § 46, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 107. Mourning and teris.
1584. Powel, Lloyd’s Cambria, 199. The women check their tears.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., II. v. 76. Weepe wretched man: Ile ayde thee Teare for Teare.
a. 1600. Montgomerie, Sonn., iv. 5. With bendit brou, and tuinkling teirs, I trou.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 72. The teares found dry in the corners of the eyes.
B. Signification.
1. A drop of the limpid fluid secreted by the lachrymal gland appearing in or flowing from the eye; chiefly as the result of emotion, esp. grief, but also of physical irritation or nervous stimulus: usually in pl.
Beowulf, 1872. Hruron him tearas blondenfeaxum.
971. Blickl. Hom., 189. Þa wæron his eaʓan ʓefyllede mid tearum.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 159. Þe ter þat Mon schet.
c. 1300. Havelok, 285. For hire was mani a ter igroten.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 45. But if þei synge for þo soules and wepe salt teres.
1422, 1593, a. 1600 [see A. β].
1737. [S. Berington], G. di Lucca’s Mem. (1738), 62. I saw his [Eyes] swimming in Tears.
1782. Cowper, Lett. to W. Unwin, 4 Nov. You tell me that John Gilpin made you laugh tears.
1808. Scott, Marm., I. Introd. 186. Drop upon Fox’s grave the tear, ’Twill trickle to his rival’s bier.
1855. Bain, Senses & Int., II. iv. § 22 (1864), 297. There are also tears of joy.
1866. Huxley, Phys. (1869), ix. § 25. Under certain circumstances … the secretion of the lachrymal gland exceeds the drainage power of the lachrymal duct, and the fluid, accumulating, overflows in the form of tears.
b. As the visible feature of weeping: hence, put for this, or as the expression of grief or sorrow. In tears, weeping, in sorrow or commiseration.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, cxxv. 6. Þa þat dos goed werkis in terys of penaunce.
1388. Wyclif, Ps. cxxv[i]. 5. Thei that sowen in teeris; schulen repe in ful out ioiyng.
1435. Misyn, Fire of Love, 18. Is not þis þe vayle of teris & tribulacion?
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 18. The people … are all in teares and mournyng.
1637. Milton, Lycidas, 14. He must not flote upon his watry bear … Without the meed of som melodious tear.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1840), II. i. 7. I was happy in listening to her tears.
1750. Gray, Elegy, Epitaph, ii. He gave to Mis’ry all he had, a tear.
1814. Wordsw., Laodamia, 164. Yet tears to human suffering are due.
2. transf. and fig. A drop of any liquid; spec. a drop or bead of liquid spontaneously exuding.
(Sometimes with allusion to grief or lamentation: cf. 1 b.)
a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 1174. Ða wearð beam moniʓ blodiʓum tearum birunnen.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 28. ʓenim cileþonian … & huniʓes teares.
a. 1175. [see A. β].
a. 1240. Ureisun, in Cott. Hom., 200. Swete iesu … min huni ter.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 284. I would these dewy teares were from the ground.
1616. Surfl. & Markh., Country Farme, 609. The vine sometimes poureth forth great store of teares, whereupon … it looseth his force altogether.
a. 1626. Bacon, New Atl. (1650), 29. The Teares or Woundings of Trees.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 505. The pearly tears Of Morning Dews.
1820. L. Hunt, Indicator, No. 20, I. 156. The tears of the sky at least were dried up.
18[?]. B. Taylor, Manuela, Poems (1866), 316. With the tears of amber dropping.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. xiv. Hawse-holes long discoloured with the iron’s rusty tears.
1883. Century Mag., Oct., 873/1. Carrying large candles, which drip their waxen tears along the road [at a funeral].
† b. pl. The Italian sweet wine known as LACHRYMA CHRISTI. Obs. rare–1.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (1531), 53 b. There groweth the myghty swete wynes, as malueseys, tyeres & muscadels.
3. spec. Applied to various gums that exude from plants in tear-shaped or globular beads, which then become solid or resinous.
a. 1000. Ælfric, Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 139/28. Opobalsamum, balsames tear.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 4974. Þar trekild doun of þa teres of iemmes, Boyland out of þe barke bawme & mirre.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, III. xvi. 308. Evphorbium is the gumme or teare of a certayne strange plante growing in Lybia.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. vi. 36. The Mastic is the teare or droppings of the Lentiscus.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, IV. xxviii. 286. One kinde … which they call Opobalsamum, which be the very teares that distil.
1686. W. Harris, trans. Lemery’s Course Chym. (ed. 2), 467. Opium is a Tear which distils of itself, or by Incision of the heads of Poppies.
1715. trans. Pancirollus’ Rerum Mem., I. I. xii. 29. Myrrh, is a Drop or Tear, distill’d from a Tree in Arabia Felix.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 753. 1/2 oz. mastic in tears.
1838. T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 671. Gum arabic … is in small rounded drops or tears.
1895. Daily News, 25 Nov., 7/1. Fine tears of frankincense, the gum resin produced by an Indian tree.
4. Anything resembling or suggesting a tear: see quots.; e.g. (a) a defect in glass caused by a small particle of vitrified clay: see quot. 1832; (b) a detonating bulb, or Prince Rupert’s drop.
1832. G. R. Porter, Porcelain & Gl., xi. 249. Tears are, perhaps, the greatest defect that can be found in glass. Ibid. Wherever these tears exist, the material is brittle in a very high degree, so as frequently to crack, without any apparent cause.
1837. Penny Cycl., VII. 15/1. The smaller and rounder the eyes, the better the cheese is reckoned. They should contain a clear salt liquor, which is called the tears.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 746. It [Plomb-gomme] has been found only at Huelgoet, near Poullaouen, in Brittany, covering with its tears or small concretions the ores of white lead and galena. Ibid., 1250. The block of metal is heated till it becomes brittle, when … it is broken to pieces, and presents an agglomeration of elongated grains or tears; whence it is called grain tin.
1857. Livingstone, Trav., xxxi. 650. It [iron] occurs generally in tears or rounded lumps.
1858. O. W. Holmes, Aut. Breakf.-t., ii. A Prince-Rupert’s-drop … is a tear of unannealed glass.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Tears, the vitreous drops from the melting of the walls of a furnace.
5. With defining words, in special senses: as glass tear [F. larme de verre], (a) a detonating bulb (see DETONATING ppl. a.); (b) a pear-shaped glass-drop used for ornament (Cent. Dict., 1891); St. Lawrence’s tears, a popular name for the Perseids, the meteors occurring about St. Lawrence’s day, Aug. 10; tears of St. Peter, a West Indian plant, Anthacanthus microphyllus (Treas. Bot.); tears of strong wine, drops of liquid forming on the inner sides of a glass partly filled with strong wine. Also CROCODILE tears, JOB’S tears, JUNO’S tears.
1899. R. H. Allen, Star Names, 335. In the later Middle Ages they were known as the Larmes de Saint Laurent, Saint Laurence’s Tears, his martyrdom upon the red-hot gridiron having taken place on the 10th of August, 258.
6. attrib. and Comb.: a. attributive, as tear-bath, -drop, -flood, -fount, -spring; b. objective and obj. gen., as tear-compeller; tear-compelling, -creative, -distilling, -falling (FALL v. 49), -shedding, -wiping adjs.; c. instrumental, as tear-baptized, -bedabbled, -bedewed, -besprinkled, -blinded, -commixed, -composed, -dewed, -dimmed, -distained, -dropped, -drowned, -filled, -fraught, -freshened, -glistening, -shot (cf. bloodshot), -stained, -stubbed, -swollen, -washed, -wet, -worn, -wrung adjs.; tear-nourish vb.; d. of other kinds, as tear-bright, tear-like, tear-shaped, tear-thirsty (cf. bloodthirsty) adjs.
1624. Quarles, Sion’s Sonn., Div. Poems (1717), 359. My *tears-baptized Love.
a. 1600. in Farr, S. P. Eliz. (1845), II. 444. Thou let’st me wash thy feete in my *teare-bath.
a. 1644. Quarles, Sol. Recant., ch. xii. 5 (1645), 58. To meet Thy *tear-bedabled fun’rals in the Street.
c. 1610. God Hears, etc., in Farr, S. P. Jas. I. (1848), 110. Thy *teares-bedewed praiers, And thy repentant sighes, shall haue accesse Before the throne of heaven.
1906. United Free Ch. Mag., March, 28/1. Crowds with tear-bedewed cheeks thronged the streets.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, IX. iv. (Rtldg.), 314. My *tear-besprinkled visage.
1813. Scott, Rokeby, V. xvi. *Tear-blinded to the Castle-hall Came as to bear her funeral pall.
1874. M. Collins, Frances, II. 191. Her hazel eyes *tear-bright with glee. Ibid. (1868), Sweet Anne Page, I. 210. That *tear-compelling tragedy.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Panthea, Author’s Invoc. 5. In this *teare-composed terrene Globe.
a. 1600. J. Bryan, in Farr, S. P. Eliz. (1845), II. 333. Heare, heare with acceptation The *teare-dew’d words I speake.
1811. W. Bristow, Little Wanderer, ii. She cannot see my *tear-dim’d eye.
1593. Shaks., Lucrece, 1586. About her *teare-distained eye Blew circles stream’d.
1799. H. Gurney, Cupid & Psyche, 10 (Jod.). No *tear-drop fills his frozen eye.
1830. Tennyson, Talking Oak, xli. A teardrop trembled from its source, And down my surface crept.
1776. Mickle, trans. Camoens’ Lusiad, VII. 298. The *tear-dropt bough hangs weeping in the vale.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. II. Imposture, 406. His *tear-drown’d eyes, a night of Clouds bedims.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., IV. ii. 66. *Teare-falling Pittie dwells not in this Eye.
a. 1631. Donne, Valediction, ii. No *teare-flouds, nor sigh-tempests move.
a. 1600. J. Bryan, in Farr, S. P. Eliz. (1845), II. 334. My long *teare-fraught eies Haue seene thy plagues redoble Vpon mine enemies.
1842. Faber, Styrian Lake, etc., 261. White flowers, *tear-freshened, for pale sorrow’s brow.
1811. W. Bristow, Stanzas written in —— church-yd., iii. At widow’d Love’s *tear-glistning shrine.
1567. Maplet, Gr. Forest, 32. This Tree … by and by droppeth and distilleth a certaine humor, in a manner *tearlike.
1873. E. Brennan, Witch of Nemi, etc., 70. For she *Tear-nourishes the bud her true love bare Unto her lord.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., I. 5. *Teare-rent Sophyre, Synon-like betrayd What votall oathes, loues sterne fort, ne’er bewrayd.
1893. Hodges, Elem. Photogr. (1907), 88. *Tear-shaped markings may be produced.
1598. Drayton, Heroic. Ep., Matilda to K. John. If all remorcelesse, no *teare-shedding eie, My selfe will moane my selfe.
1840. Browning, Sordello, III. 744. Lashless eyes Inveterately *tear-shot.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., II. iv. 16. Ile prepare My *teare-stayn’d eyes, to see her Miseries.
1868. Adah I. Menken, Infelicia (1883), 120. Take my cold, tear-stained face up to yours.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T., Wks. (Grosart), IV. 12. That which my *Teare-stubbed penne … hath attempted.
1768. C. Shaw, Monody, i. These *tear-swoln eyes beheld her fall.
1579. Gosson, Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 49. Calling [Mars] the bloody God, the angry God,… πολύδακρυς the *tearethirsty God.
1755. J. Shebbeare, Lydia (1769), II. 431. The *tear-washed eye surveyed the severe trials.
c. 1630. Drumm. of Hawth., Poems, Wks. (1711), 33. Her *tear-wet locks hang’d o’er her face.
1605. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iii. I. Vocation, 151. O contrite heart’s restorer! *Tears-wiping tame-griefe!
1786. Burns, Lament, viii. My toil-beat nerves, and *tear-worn eye.
1823. Byron, Age of Bronze, xiv. They voted … *tear-wrung millions—why? for rent!
e. Special Combs.: tear-bag, (a) = tear-pit; (b) = tear-gland; tear-duct, (a) the lachrymal or nasal duct, which carries off tears from the eye to the nose; (b) the lachrymal canal, which supplies tears to the eyes; tear-gland, the lachrymal gland; tear-passage, = tear-duct; tear-pit, the lachrymal or sub-orbital sinus found in many species of deer, a fold or cavity beneath the inner corner of the eye, containing a thin waxy secretion; = LARMIER 2; tear-pump (slang) [cf. PUMP sb.1 d, v. 6], the source of tears shed effusively or in feigned emotion; tear-punctum: see PUNCTUM 4 b; tear-sac, = tear-pit. See also TEAR-BOTTLE.
1893. Lydekker, Horns & Hoofs, 64. The lachrymal fossa—in which rests the gland termed the crumen, larmier, or *‘tear-bag.’
1892. Pall Mall G., 30 March, 4/3. The treatment of obstructions of the *tear passages.
1834. Penny Cycl., II. 69/1. The possession of lachrymal sinuses, or, as they are vernacularly called with reference to the stag and fallow-deer, *tear-pits,… distinguishes the greater number of the antelopes.
1903. Farmer, Slang Dict., s.v., To work the *tear-pump,… to weep.
1878. T. Bryant, Pract. Surg., I. 348. The *tear puncta … lie in contact with the ocular conjunctiva.
