Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Sorry

Sorry , adjective

[Old English sory, sary, Anglo-Saxon sārig, from sār, n., sore. See Sore, n. & a. The original sense was, painful; hence, miserable, sad.]

1.
Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; -- now generally used to express light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling.
I am sorry for my sins. — Piers Plowman
Ye were made sorry after a godly manner. — 2 Cor. vii. 9
I am sorry for thee, friend; 't is the duke's pleasure. — Shakespeare
She entered, were he lief or sorry. — Spenser
2.
Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful. — Spenser
All full of chirking was this sorry place. — Chaucer
3.
Poor; mean; worthless; as, a sorry excuse.
With sorry grace. — Chaucer
Cheeks of sorry grain will serve. — Milton
Good fruit will sometimes grow on a sorry tree. — Sir W. Scott