mourn
[mawrn, mohrn]
- to feel or express sorrow or grief.
- to grieve or lament for the dead.
- to show the conventional or usual signs of sorrow over a person's death.
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- to feel or express sorrow or grief over (misfortune, loss, or anything regretted); deplore.
- to grieve or lament over (the dead).
- to utter in a sorrowful manner.
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Origin of mourn
before 900; Middle English mo(u)rnen, Old English murnan; cognate with Old High German mornēn, Old Norse morna, Gothic maurnan
Synonyms
See more synonyms for mourn on Thesaurus.com1. bewail, bemoan. See grieve.
Antonyms
1. laugh, rejoice.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for mourned
Contemporary Examples
What is being celebrated and rewarded by the Kremlin are events that the international community has mourned.
We watched her float about, a meandering frown, for two whole hours in the season premiere as she mourned the death of Matthew.
‘Downton Abbey’ Finale Review: The Depressing Demise of a Once-Great ShowKevin Fallon
February 24, 2014
Ukraine mourned grave news coming from the burning, revolutionary streets of Kiev this week.
Still, at his funeral, he was mourned by grandchildren enrolled as students in Ivy League schools.
Instead, he mourned “this has resulted in an epidemic of psychological moral and physical suffering” instead.
Historical Examples
She had rejoiced for his happy spirit, and now she mourned her own widowed lot.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
If she mourned for her son, who had been absent for two years, how would his mother mourn?
Life in LondonEdwin Hodder
When she left him the widowed father of a little girl, he mourned sincerely for her.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
The Bretons mourned and raged at the loss of their young duke.
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward IICharlotte Mary Yonge
His death was mourned by a large circle of friends who appreciated his worth.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
mourn
- to feel or express sadness for the death or loss of (someone or something)
- (intr) to observe the customs of mourning, as by wearing black
- (tr) to grieve over (loss or misfortune)
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Word Origin
Old English murnan; compare Old High German mornēn to be troubled, Gothic maurnan to grieve, Greek mermeros worried
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
Word Origin and History for mourned
mourn
v.
Old English murnan "to mourn, bemoan, long after," also "be anxious about, be careful" (class III strong verb; past tense mearn, past participle murnen), from Proto-Germanic *murnan "to remember sorrowfully" (cf. Old Saxon mornon, Old High German mornen, Gothic maurnan "to mourn," Old Norse morna "to pine away"), probably from PIE root *(s)mer- "to remember" (see memory); or, if the Old Norse sense is the base one, from *mer- "to die, wither." Related: Mourned; mourning.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper