Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Piteous

Piteous , adjective

[Old English pitous, Old French pitos, French piteux. See Pity.]

1.
Pious; devout. [Obsolete]
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.
The most piteous tale of Lear. — Shakespeare
4.
Paltry; mean; pitiful.
Piteous amends. — Milton