mourn
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to feel or express sorrow or grief over (misfortune, loss, or anything regretted); deplore.
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to grieve or lament over (the dead).
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to utter in a sorrowful manner.
verb
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to feel or express sadness for the death or loss of (someone or something)
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(intr) to observe the customs of mourning, as by wearing black
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(tr) to grieve over (loss or misfortune)
Synonym Usage
See grieve.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have mournedperfect
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has mournedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been mourningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is mourningprogressive 3rd person singular
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are mourningprogressive
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have been mourningperfect progressive
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am mourningprogressive 1st person singular
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mournssingular 3rd person
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mourningparticiple
Past
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had mournedperfect
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was mourningprogressive singular
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were mourningprogressive plural
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had been mourningperfect progressive
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mournedparticiple
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mournedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of mourn
First recorded before 900; Middle English mo(u)rnen, Old English murnan; cognate with Old High German mornēn, Old Norse morna, Gothic maurnan
Explanation
To mourn is to grieve for someone who has died, especially a loved one. One of the hardest experiences of childhood is when you mourn the loss of a beloved pet. You can also mourn for things that you've lost, not only pets and people who have died. If your local library branch is forced to close, you might mourn its loss, missing being able to walk there from your house. The Old English root word of mourn is murnan, which means not only to mourn, but also to be anxious. Related words include "mourner" and "mournful."
Vocabulary lists containing mourn
Instead of "Said": Words For Sad Speech
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 14–18
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living," read one banner raised inside the building.
From Reuters • Oct. 28, 2023
The month of shiva and shloshim is a liminal time, said Anita Diamant, the author of “Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew.”
From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2021
Mourn the good parts of your relationship with her and move on.
From Slate • Jun. 21, 2021
There is a literature dedicated to fire—think of Dante, or Dylan Thomas’s “Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London”—and there is a literature consumed by fire quite literally.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 2, 2019
Mourn, Ephesus, thy glory and thy light Extinguished!
From The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles Vol. 2 by Gilfillan, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
