\Re*gret"\ (r?*gr?t"), n. [F., fr. regretter. See
{Regret}, v.]
1. Pain of mind on account of something done or experienced
   in the past, with a wish that it had been different; a
   looking back with dissatisfaction or with longing; grief;
   sorrow; especially, a mourning on account of the loss of
   some joy, advantage, or satisfaction. ``A passionate
   regret at sin.'' --Dr. H. More.
         What man does not remember with regret the first
         time he read Robinson Crusoe?         --Macaulay.
         Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for
         the loss of a servant. --Clarendon.
         From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but
         fond regrets and tender recollections. --W. Irving.
2. Dislike; aversion. [Obs.] --Dr. H. More.
Syn: Grief; concern; sorrow; lamentation; repentance;
     penitence; self-condemnation.
Usage: {Regret}, {Remorse}, {Compunction}, {Contrition},
       {Repentance}. Regret does not carry with it the energy
       of remorse, the sting of compunction, the sacredness
       of contrition, or the practical character of
       repentance. We even apply the term regret to
       circumstance over which we have had no control, as the
       absence of friends or their loss. When connected with
       ourselves, it relates rather to unwise acts than to
       wrong or sinful ones. --C. J. Smith.

\Re*gret"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Regretted} (-t[e^]d); p.
pr. & vb. n. {Regretting}.] [F. regretter, OF. regreter; L.
pref. re- re- + a word of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth.
gr[=e]tan to weep, Icel. gr[=a]ta. See {Greet} to lament.]
To experience regret on account of; to lose or miss with a
sense of regret; to feel sorrow or dissatisfaction on account
of (the happening or the loss of something); as, to regret an
error; to regret lost opportunities or friends.
      Calmly he looked on either life, and here Saw nothing
      to regret, or there to fear.             --Pope.
      In a few hours they [the Israelites] began to regret
      their slavery, and to murmur against their leader.
                                               --Macaulay.
      Recruits who regretted the plow from which they had
      been violently taken.                    --Macaulay.