Lachrymatory
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A vase supposedly intended to hold tears; formerly used by archaeologists to designate certain urns found in Roman burials.
"1658: For beside these Lachrymatories, notable Lamps with Vessels of Oyles and Aromaticall Liquors attended noble Ossuaries. — Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial (Penguin 2005, p. 21)"
- 1 Pertaining to or causing tears.
"1919: It is sheer affectation to lacerate a man with the poisonous fragment of a bursting shell and to boggle at making his eyes water by means of lachrymatory gas. — Winston Churchill, "1919 War Office Memorandum""
- 1 relating to or prompting tears wordnet
Example
More examples"1919: It is sheer affectation to lacerate a man with the poisonous fragment of a bursting shell and to boggle at making his eyes water by means of lachrymatory gas. — Winston Churchill, "1919 War Office Memorandum""
Etymology
From Latin lachrymātōrius. By surface analysis, lachrymate + -ory.
From Latin lachrymātōrium. By surface analysis, lachrymate + -ory.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.