What 's done is done - wikipedia What 's done is done `` What 's done is done '' is an idiom in English. The expression uses the word `` done '' in the sense of `` finished '' or `` settled '', a usage which dates back to the first half of the 15th century. Contents 1 Meaning 2 Etymology 3 See also 4 References Meaning It usually means something along the line of : the consequence of a situation ( which was once within your control ), is now out of your control, that is, `` there 's no changing the past, so learn from it and move on. '' Etymology One of the first - recorded uses of this phrase was by the character Lady Macbeth in Act 3, Scene 2 of the tragedy play Macbeth ( early 17th century ), by the English playwright William Shakespeare, who said : `` Things without all remedy Should be without regard : what 's done, is done '' and `` Give me your hand. What 's done can not be undone. -- To bed, to bed, to bed ! '' Shakespeare did not coin the phrase ; it is actually a derivative of the early 14th - century French proverb : Mez quant ja est la chose fecte, ne peut pas bien estre desfecte, which is translated into English as `` But when a thing is already done, it can not be undone ''. It was first used in the Mahabharata when Vidura tells Dhritarashta when Dhritarashta realises the consequences of his actions. See also Linguistics portal List of idioms in the English language References Jump up ^ `` What does `` what 's done is done '' mean ? ``. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company ( via yourdictionary.com ). Retrieved December 6, 2011. Jump up ^ `` What 's Done is Done -- Shakespeare Quotes ''. eNotes. Retrieved December 6, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Macbeth : Act 5, Scene 1, Page 3 ''. SparkNotes. Retrieved December 6, 2011. Jump up ^ Bruce, Elyse ( June 29, 2010 ). `` What 's Done Is Done ''. Idiomation ( via WordPress. Retrieved December 6, 2011. hide William Shakespeare 's Macbeth Characters Macbeth Lady Macbeth Banquo Macduff King Duncan Malcolm Donalbain Three Witches Fleance Lady Macduff Macduff 's son Third Murderer Young Siward Inspirations Macbeth, King of Scotland Gruoch of Scotland Duncan I of Scotland Malcolm III of Scotland Donald III of Scotland Siward, Earl of Northumbria King James VI and I Sources Daemonologie ( 1597 ) The Witch ( play ) Holinshed 's Chronicles Darraðarljóð Film 1908 1909 ( French ) 1909 ( Italian ) 1911 1913 1915 1916 1922 1948 1971 2006 2015 Cancelled ( Olivier ) Television 1954 1960 US TV 1960 Australian TV 1961 1979 1982 2005 TV / film adaptations The Real Thing at Last ( 1916 ) Marmayogi ( 1951 ) Joe MacBeth ( 1955 ) Throne of Blood ( 1957 ) Macbeth ( Verdi opera ) ( 1987 ) Men of Respect ( 1990 ) Scotland, PA ( 2001 ) Makibefo ( 2001 ) Maqbool ( 2003 ) Shakespeare Must Die ( 2012 ) Veeram ( 2016 ) Plays Voodoo Macbeth ( 1936 ) MacBird ! ( 1967 ) uMabatha ( 1970 ) Macbett ( 1972 ) Cahoot 's Macbeth ( 1979 ) MacHomer ( 1995 ) Sleep No More ( 2003 ) Sleep No More ( 2009 ) Dunsinane ( 2010 ) Sleep No More ( 2011 ) Just Macbeth ! Operas Macbeth ( 1847, Verdi ) discography Macbeth ( 1910, Bloch ) Literary adaptations Wyrd Sisters ( 1988 ) The Last King of Scotland ( 1998 ) The Tragedy of Macbeth Part II ( 2008 ) Albums Music from Macbeth ( 1972 ) Macbeth ( 1990 ) Thane to the Throne ( 2000 ) Shakespeare 's Macbeth -- A Tragedy in Steel ( 2003 ) Lady Macbeth ( 2005 ) Art Pity ( 1795 ) The Night of Enitharmon 's Joy ( 1795 ) Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth ( 1889 ) Lady Macbeth ( 1905 sculpture ) Scenes and speeches `` On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth '' ( 1823 ) Sleepwalking Scene ( 5.1 ) `` Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow '' Words and phrases `` What 's done is done '' `` Crack of doom '' `` Strange but true '' The Scottish Play Thane of Cawdor Story within a story We Work Again Light Thickens The Deadly Affair `` The Movies '' `` Sleeping with the Enemy '' `` The Shower Principle '' Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine The Scottish Play Burke & Hare Episodes `` A Witch 's Tangled Hare '' ( 1959, Looney Tunes ) `` The Bellero Shield '' ( 1964, The Outer Limits ) `` Sense and Senility '' ( 1987, Blackadder the Third ) `` The Coup '' ( 2006, The Office ) `` Dial `` N '' for Nerder '' ( 2008, The Simpsons ) `` Four Great Women and a Manicure '' ( 2009, The Simpsons ) `` The Understudy '' ( 2014, Inside No. 9 ) Other Macbeth ( Strauss ) The Scottish Play Piano Trios, Op. 70 ( Beethoven ) The Ruins of Cawdor House of Cards ( UK, 1990 ) House of Cards ( US, 2013 -- present ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=What%27s_done_is_done&oldid=810754758 '' Categories : English - language idioms Macbeth Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 17 November 2017, at 06 : 10 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who said what is done cannot be undone
Answer: Lady Macbeth in Act 3, Scene 2 of the tragedy play Macbeth (early 17th century), by the English playwright William Shakespeare