żal

From Arabic زَالَ (zāla).

• IPA^(key): /zaːl/

żal (imperfect jżul)

1. to go away

• IPA^(key): /ˈʐal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: żal
• Homophone: Żal

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žalь.

żal m inan

1. grief, regret, sorrow (emotional pain 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)

   Hypernym: smutek

   żal po czyjejś śmierci ― grief over someone's death

2. grief, regret, sorrow (remorse after committing something wrong)

   Hypernym: skrucha

   żal za grzechy ― sorrow for one's sins

3. grievance, grudge (animosity or ill will against someone or something caused by disappointment)

   Hypernym: pretensja

   żal do ojca ― grudge against one's father

4. (in the plural) complaints, grievances, lamentations, regrets (statements in which someone laments or complains about something)

   wysłuchiwać żalów ― to listen to someone's grievances

5. (in the plural, historical, poetry) żale (lyrical work in Old Polish literature expressing complaints about fate, pain due to some misfortune, or grief after someone's death)

żal impf (defective)

1. (intransitive) to grieve, to pity (to feel sympathy for someone; to feel sorry for someone) [with dative and genitive]

   Żal mi jego dzieci. ― I feel sorry for his children.

2. (intransitive) to regret (to feel sadness about something one has or has not done, or about what has passed and what one has lost) [with dative, along with genitive or infinitive or że]

   Żal nam stąd wyjeżdżać, ale mamy pełno rzeczy do zrobienia u siebie. ― We don't want to leave this place but we have a lot of work to do.

3. (intransitive) to have a sense of wasting something that is important and valuable, and which one would like to see put to good use [with dative and genitive and na (+ accusative); or with dative and infinitive]

   Żal mi czasu na dyskutowanie z tobą, i tak nie zrozumiesz. ― I'm not gonna waste my time discussing it with you, you won't understand anyway.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

żal

1. second-person singular imperative of żalić

• żal I in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• żal II in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• żale in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• żal in Polish dictionaries at PWN