Pit"e*ous (?), a. [OE. pitous, OF. pitos, F. piteux. See Pity.]
1.
Pious; devout.
[Obs.]
The Lord can deliver piteous men from temptation.
Wyclif.
2.
Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender.
"[She]
piteous of his case."
Pope.
She was so charitable and so pitous.
Chaucer.
3.
Fitted to excite pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad; as, a piteous case.
Spenser.
The most piteous tale of Lear.
Shak.
4.
Paltry; mean; pitiful.
"
Piteous amends."
Milton.
Syn. -- Sorrowful; mournful; affecting; doleful; woeful; rueful; sad; wretched; miserable; pitiable; pitiful; compassionate.
-- Pit"e*ous*ly, adv. -- Pit"e*ous*ness, n.
© Webster 1913.