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rue

1. (Science: botany) A perennial suffrutescent plant (Ruta graveolens), having a strong, heavy odour and a bitter taste; herb of grace. It is used in medicine.

Then purged with euphrasy and rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see. (milton) They [the exorcists] are to try the devil by holy water, incense, sulphur, rue, which from thence, as we suppose, came to be called herb of grace. (Jer. Taylor)

2. Bitterness; disappointment; grief; regret. Goat's rue. See goat. Rue anemone, a pretty springtime flower (Thalictrum anemonides) common in the united states. Wall rue, a little fern (Asplenium Ruta-muraria) common on walls in Europe.

Origin: F. Rue, L. Ruta, akin to Gr.; cf. AS. Rde.