Old English wepan "shed tears, cry; bewail, mounr over; complain" (class VII strong verb; past tense weop, past participle wopen), from Proto-Germanic *wopjan (cognates: Old Norse op, Old High German wuof "shout, shouting, crying," Old Saxon wopian, Gothic wopjan "to shout, cry out, weep"), from PIE *wab- "to cry, scream" (cognates: Latin vapulare "to be flogged;" Old Church Slavonic vupiti "to call," vypu "gull"). Of water naturally forming on stones, walls, etc., from c.1400. Related: Wept; weeping; weeper.