a complaining tirade in a tone of grief or distress, 1780, from French jérémiade (1762), in reference to "Lamentations of Jeremiah" in the Old Testament.
Entries linking to jeremiad
Jeremiah
masc. proper name, Old Testament prophet (compare jeremiad) who flourished c. 626-586 B.C.E., from Late Latin Jeremias, from Hebrew Yirmeyah, probably literally "may Jehovah exalt," but Klein suggests it also might be short for Yirmeyahu "the Lord casts, the Lord founds," and compares the first element in Jerusalem. The vernacular form in English was Jeremy.