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)
Related Words
See grieve.
Other Word Forms
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.
Hong Kong and Macau were once the only places in China where people could publicly mourn Beijing's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
And it takes a universe to mourn one.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
"This affects the entire community, so we all mourn with these families."
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
Yet Mahajan’s individualistic Chopras each still celebrate and mourn.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
To mourn is not the same as to be in mourning, which means wearing a black armband and sitting in the parlor, talking to people who call on the bereaved.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
