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Webster 1913 Edition

Alas

A-las′

,
int
erj.
[OE.
alas
,
allas
, OF.
alas
, F.
hélas
;
a
interj. (L.
ah
.) +
las
wretched (that I am), L.
lassus
weary, akin to E.
late
. See
Late
.]
An exclamation expressive of sorrow, pity, or apprehension of evil; – in old writers, sometimes followed by day or white; alas the day, like alack a day, or alas the white.

Webster 1828 Edition

Alas

ALAS'

,
ex.
An exclamation expressive of sorrow, grief, pity, concern, or apprehension of evil; sometimes followed by day or while; alas the day, like alack a day; or alas the while, expressing an unhappy time.

Definition 2024

alas

alas

See also: álás, àlas, alās, a las, and άλας

English

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɑːs
  • IPA(key): /əˈlæs/

Interjection

alas

  1. Used to express sorrow, regret, compassion or grief.
    • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Act 5, Scene 1
      Alas, Poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Yakut алаас ‎(alaas).

Noun

alas ‎(plural alases or alasses)

  1. A type of depression which occurs in Yakutia, formed by the subsidence of permafrost.

Translations

Anagrams

Aromanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin laxō. Compare Daco-Romanian lăsa, las.

Verb

alas (past participle alãsatã)

  1. I let, allow.
  2. I leave (something), drop.

Related terms

  • alãsari/alãsare
  • alãsat

Balinese

Noun

alas

  1. forest

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *ala. Cognate with Estonian all and Hungarian alatt (the lative singular of ala-).

Adverb

alas ‎(comparative alemmaksi, superlative alimmaksi)

  1. down
  2. downward

Antonyms

  • (down; downward): ylös

Inflection

Declension of alas
noun case singular plural adverbial
form		 singular plural
nominative ala- – superessive alhaalla –
genitive – – delative alhaalta –
partitive – – sublative alhaalle –
accusative – – lative alas –
inessive – – temporal – –
elative – – causative – –
illative – – multiplicative – –
adessive alla – distributive – –
ablative alta – temp. dist. – –
allative alle – prolative ali
alitse 		–
essive – – situative allekkain
alakkain 		–
translative – – oppositive alatusten –
instructive – –
abessive – –
comitative – –

Interjection

alas

  1. (followed by a nominative) down with (e.g. in demonstrations)
    Alas rikolliset!
    Down with the criminals!

Verb

alas

  1. Second-person singular imperative present form of alkaa + the suffix -s.

Anagrams

Indonesian

Noun

alas

  1. base, foundation
  2. layer, lining, covering

Synonyms

Javanese

Noun

alas

  1. forest
  2. fields outside a village

Latin

Noun

ālās

  1. accusative plural of āla

Verb

alās

  1. second-person singular present active subjunctive of alō

References

Latvian

Noun

alas f

  1. genitive singular form of ala
  2. nominative plural form of ala
  3. vocative plural form of ala
  4. accusative plural form of ala

Malay

Noun

alas

  1. base, framework, layer, pad, foundation

Old Javanese

Noun

alas

  1. wood, forest
  2. quantity of flowers or plants growing in a thick cluster

Portuguese

Noun

alas

  1. plural of ala

Verb

alas

  1. Second-person singular (tu) present indicative of alar

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Hungarian halász ‎(“fisherman”).

Noun

àlās m ‎(Cyrillic spelling а̀ла̄с)

  1. (regional) a river fisherman

Synonyms

Spanish

Noun

alas f pl

  1. plural of ala

Sundanese

Noun

alas

  1. forest

Etymology

From Old French a las (French hélas), from a ‎(“ah”) + las, from Latin lassus ‎(“weary”). Compare Dutch helaas.

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