Lachrymose

Lachrymose (pronounced lak-ruh-mohs)

(1) Suggestive of or tending to cause tears; mournful.

(2) Given to shedding tears readily; tearful; weepy.

(3) The natural state of the emo.

1655-1665: From the Latin lacrimōsus, from lacrima (a tear).  The construct was lacrima (tear) + the suffix -osus (-ful”).  It was a dialect-altered borrowing of Greek dakryma (tear) from dakryein (to shed tears, weep, lament with tears), from the Old Latin dacrima, from the primitive Indo-European dakru-; cognate with the English tear.  The meaning "given to tears, tearful" dates from 1727; that of “a mournful character" is from 1822.  Lacrymose is the now rare alternative spelling.  Lachrymose & lachrymal are adjectives, lachrymosely an adverb and lachrymation & lachrymosity are nouns; the only noun plural to register on trends of use charts is lachrymations.  

T-shirts of a lacrymal Lindsay Lohan are available.

The -d- to -l- alteration in Latin is the so-called "Sabine -L-" (as in the Latin olere (smell), from the root of odor, and Ulixes, the Latin form of Greek Odysseus.  The practice in Medieval Latin of writing -ch- for -c- before -r- also altered anchor, pulchritude and sepulchre. The -y- is pedantic, from the former belief, widespread during the Middle Ages, that the word was pure Greek.  Earlier in the same sense was lachrymental, known from the 1620s and in mid-fifteenth century Middle English there was lacrymable in the sense of "tearful".  A lacrymatory or lachrymatory (from the Latin lacrima (tear)) was a small vessel of terracotta or, more frequently, of glass, found in Roman and late Greek tombs, and supposed to have been bottles into which mourners dropped their tears. Lachrymator is a substance that irritates the eyes and causes tears to flow.  Lacryma Christi (known also as the Lachryma Christi of Vesuvius (literally "tears of Christ")), is a Neapolitan type of wine produced on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, Italy.  Analysis of the microscopic residue left on the taps of the casks revealed it to be the nearest equivalent to wine drunk in Ancient Rome.

Women have long understood the power of the tear and there’s suspicion some can turn it on and off like a tap if the situation calls; it’s just another technique of rhetoric.  Men generally probably are less capable of summoning lachrymosity on demand but in politics there have been a few tearful types, some occasionally, some habitually.  Winston Churchill (1875-1965; Prime Minister of the UK 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) could be as brutal and blood-thirsty as any but was sentimental about animals, the sufferings of colleagues and even opponents, unashamedly crying when moved by the moment, sometimes even in the House of Commons.  Harold Macmillan (1894–1986; Prime Minister of the UK 1957-1963), his successor but one, was in public of the “stiff upper lip school” but even he, as he noted in his diary, “burst into tears” after signing the 1963 nuclear test ban treaty although he did it alone, behind closed doors but then much of the old Etonian’s secret life was lived thus.  US house speaker John Boehner (b 1949; Speaker of the US House of Representatives 2011-2015) was famously tearful during his time in the chair but given the difficulties he faced, it’s a wonder he didn’t cry more.  He gained the speakership essentially because the Republican’s Tea Party faction gained enough seats to deliver him the numbers but once installed he found their bloody minded intransigence made his job close to impossible and while the story may be apocryphal, it’s said he cried even when playing golf with Barack Obama (b 1961; President of the US 2009-2017).  Folk probably cry during a round with Donald Trump (b 1946; President of the US 2017-2021) but for other reasons.

Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011. 

There have been a few Australian prime-ministers known to have made others cry but some did it themselves.  Bob Hawke’s (1929–2019; Prime Minister of Australia 1983-1991) tears flowed in response to a journalist’s question about a drug-related matter and only later did he reveal his daughter suffered a heroin addiction.  The loss of the prime-ministership brought tears from both Malcolm Fraser (1930-2015; Prime Minister of Australia 1975-1983) and Kevin Rudd (b 1957; Prime Minister of Australia 2007-2010 & 2013), Rudd at the time apologizing for having “blubbed on live TV” but the most famously lachrymose at the point of dismissal was Lord Goderich (1782-1859; Prime Minister of the UK 1827-1828) whose brief, unhappy premiership ended when he was sacked by George IV (1762–1830; King of the United Kingdom 1820-1830) who kindly loaned him the royal handkerchief.  The weeping would have come as no surprise to his contemporaries and even the official biography on the Downing Street website gleefully mentions the nickname they gave the tearful Goderich: “the Blubberer”.