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definitions

half mourning

noun
  1. a mourning garb less somber than deep mourning, usually following a period of deep mourning.
  2. the period during which it is worn.

Origin of half mourning

First recorded in 1810–20
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for half-mourning

Historical Examples of half-mourning

  • And surely grey is what is known as 'half-mourning' too, is it not?

  • Irene certainly was peerless in her half-mourning, with her statuesque figure.

    Hope Mills

    Amanda M. Douglas

  • They wore thick veils, and Hilda was dressed in a kind of half-mourning.

  • Then Lois came into the room, hatted and gloved, in half-mourning.

    The Roll-Call

    Arnold Bennett

  • The clerk is a matron, and the proprietress a widow in half-mourning.

    The Whole Family

    William Dean Howells, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Mary Heaton

British Dictionary definitions for half-mourning

half-mourning

noun
  1. dark grey clothes worn by some during a period after full formal mourning
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012