Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GRIEF, n. [D. grief, hurt; Fr. grief, and grever, to oppress; Sp. agravio; Norm. grief, gref, greve; L. gravis. See Grave and Aggravate. The sense is pressure or oppression.]

1. The pain of mind produced by loss, misfortune, injury or evils of any kind; sorrow; regret. We experience grief when we lose a friend, when we incur loss, when we consider ourselves injured, and by sympathy, we feel grief at the misfortunes of others.
2. The pain of mind occasioned by our own misconduct; sorrow or regret that we have done wrong; pain accompanying repentance. We feel grief when we have offended or injured a friend, and the consciousness of having offended the Supreme Being, fills the penitent heart with the most poignant grief.
3. Cause of sorrow; that which afflicts. Who were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. Gen. xxvi. A foolish son is a grief to his father. Prov. xvii.