mourning

mourning
mourningly, adv.
/mawr"ning, mohr"-/, n.
1. the act of a person who mourns; sorrowing or lamentation.
2. the conventional manifestation of sorrow for a person's death, esp. by the wearing of black clothes or a black armband, the hanging of flags at half-mast, etc.
3. the outward symbols of such sorrow, as black garments.
4. the period or interval during which a person grieves or formally expresses grief, as by wearing black garments.
adj.
5. of, pertaining to, or used in mourning.
[bef. 900; ME (n., adj.); OE murnung (n.). See MOURN, -ING1, -ING2]
Ant. 1. rejoicing.

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▪ social custom
      formal demonstration of grief at the death of a person, practiced in most societies. Mourners are usually relatives, although they may be friends or members of the community. Mourning rites, which are of varying duration and rationale, usually weigh more heavily on women than on men. Mourners may deny themselves certain amusement, ornaments, or food. They may practice sexual continence or keep vigil over the body of the deceased. Changes in garb, such as black robes, and alterations in hairstyle may distinguish mourners, but such evidences of mourning have declined in many societies.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • MOURNING — (Heb. אֵבֶל), the expression of grief and sorrow over the death of a close relative, friend, national leader, or in response to a national calamity. The lamentation (Heb. קִינָה (kinah, qinah); נְהִי, nehi) is the specifically literary and… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Mourning — Mourn ing, a. 1. Grieving; sorrowing; lamenting. [1913 Webster] 2. Employed to express sorrow or grief; worn or used as appropriate to the condition of one bereaved or sorrowing; as, mourning garments; a mourning ring; a mourning pin, and the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mourning — Mourn ing, n. [AS. murnung.] 1. The act of sorrowing or expressing grief; lamentation; sorrow. [1913 Webster] 2. Garb, drapery, or emblems indicative of grief, esp. clothing or a badge of somber black. [1913 Webster] The houses to their tops with …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mourning — ► NOUN 1) the experience or expression of deep sorrow for someone who has died. 2) black clothes conventionally worn in a period of mourning …   English terms dictionary

  • mourning — [môr′niŋ] n. 1. the actions or feelings of one who mourns; specif., the expression of grief at someone s death 2. black clothes, drapery, etc. worn or displayed as a conventional sign of grief for the dead 3. the period during which one mourns… …   English World dictionary

  • mourning — index disconsolate Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • mourning — (n.) O.E. murnung complaint, grief, verbal noun from MOURN (Cf. mourn) (v.) …   Etymology dictionary

  • mourning — [n] sadness, time of sadness aching, bereavement, blackness, crying, darkness, grief, grieving, keening, lamentation, lamenting, languishing, moaning, pining, repining, sorrowing, wailing, weeping, woe; concepts 388,410 Ant. cheer, happiness, joy …   New thesaurus

  • Mourning — Not to be confused with Morning. Margarita Teresa of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, in mourning, 1666; her brother, the young king Charles II of Spain appears behind her with his attendants wearing mourning dress …   Wikipedia

  • mourning — noun 1 sadness about sb s death ADJECTIVE ▪ deep ▪ national, official ▪ public VERB + MOURNING ▪ be in, go …   Collocations dictionary

  • mourning — n. 1) to declare, proclaim (a period of) mourning 2) to go into mourning 3) deep mourning 4) national mourning 5) in mourning for * * * [ mɔːnɪŋ] proclaim (a period of) mourning deep mourning in mourning for national mourning to declare to go in …   Combinatory dictionary

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