Word Origin & History
O.E. wepan "shed tears, cry" (class VII strong verb; past tense weop, pp. wopen), from P.Gmc. *wopijanan (cf. O.N. op, O.H.G. wuof "shout, shouting, crying," O.S. wopian, Goth. wopjan "to shout, cry out, weep"). No certain cognates outside Gmc. Weepy first attested 1825. Weeping willow (cf. Fr. saule
pleureur, Ger. trauerweide) is recorded from 1731. The tree is native to Asia; the first brought to England were imported 1748, from the Euphrates. Replaced cypress as a funerary emblem.