mourn

English

Alternative forms

• morne (14th-15th centuries)

Etymology

From Middle English mornen, mournen, from Old English murnan, from Proto-Germanic *murnaną. Cognate with French morne (“gloomy”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: môrn, IPA^(key): /moɹn/, [ˈmo̞ɹn]; (rare) enPR: mo͝orn, IPA^(key): /mʊɹn/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: môn, IPA^(key): /mɔːn/; (rare) enPR: mo͝orn, IPA^(key): /mʊən/

  Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (without the horse–hoarse merger, rhotic) enPR: mōrn, IPA^(key): /mo(ː)ɹn/; (rare) enPR: mo͝orn, IPA^(key): /mʊɹn/
• (without the horse–hoarse merger, non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /moən/; (rare) enPR: mo͝orn, IPA^(key): /mʊən/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n
• Homophone: mourne; morne (accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Verb

mourn (third-person singular simple present mourns, present participle mourning, simple past and past participle mourned)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To express sadness or sorrow for; to grieve over (especially a death).
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     We mourn in black; why mourn we not in blood?

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 23:2:

     Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

   • 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Nightmare:

     Thane Krios: It seems there will be no one to mourn me when I die. You're the only friend I've made in ten years.

2. (transitive) To utter in a sorrowful manner.
3. (intransitive) To wear mourning.

Derived terms

• bemourn
• mourner
• mournful
• mourning
• mourning dove
• overmourn

 

Translations

express sadness for, grieve over

• Arabic: نَدَبَ (nadaba)
• Bengali: শোক করা (śōk kora)
• Bulgarian: тъгувам (bg) (tǎguvam), скърбя (bg) (skǎrbja)
• Catalan: lamentar (ca), portar dol
• Cherokee: ᎠᏍᎪᏂᎭ (asgoniha)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哀悼 (zh) (āidào), 悲悼 (zh) (bēidào), 悼念 (zh) (dàoniàn)

• Czech: truchlit
• Danish: sørge
• Dutch: treuren (nl), rouwen (nl)
• Dzongkha: མྱ་ངན་འབད་བ (mya ngan 'bad ba)
• Esperanto: priplori
• Estonian: leinama
• Faroese: syrgja
• Finnish: surra (fi)
• French: déplorer (fr), porter le deuil (fr)
• Galician: lamentar (gl)
• Georgian: დატირება (daṭireba)
• German: trauern (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πενθέω (penthéō)

• Hebrew: אבל (he) (avál)
• Hungarian: gyászol (hu)
• Icelandic: syrgja (is)
• Ido: traurar (io)
• Ingrian: surra, tusata
• Irish: caoin
• Italian: rimpiangere (it), essere (in) lutto
• Japanese: 悲しむ (ja) (かなしむ, kanashimu), 悼む (ja) (いたむ, itamu)
• Jarai: čŏk
• Khmer: កាន់ទុក្ខ (kan tuk)
• Korean: 슬퍼하다 (seulpeohada)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: lūgeō
• Malay: berkabung (ms)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sørge

• Occitan: deplorar (oc), plorar (oc), lamentar (oc)
• Old English: murnan
• Oromo: gadduu, gufufuu
• Persian: سوگواری کردن (sugvâri kardan)
• Portuguese: lamentar (pt), estar de luto
• Russian: горева́ть (ru) impf (gorevátʹ), скорбе́ть (ru) impf (skorbétʹ), опла́кивать (ru) impf (oplákivatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: caoidh, caoin, dèan bròn
• Slovene: žalovati (sl) impf
• Spanish: lamentar (es), estar de luto
• Swahili: -fiwa, -omboleza
• Swedish: sörja (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tocharian B: kwäs-
• Ukrainian: опла́кувати impf (oplákuvaty), скорбо́ти impf (skorbóty)
• Vietnamese: thương tiếc (vi), xót xa (vi)
• West Frisian: rouje
• Yiddish: טרויערן (troyern)

Noun

mourn (countable and uncountable, plural mourns)

1. (now literary) Sorrow, grief.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “vij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book II:

     Anone after ther cam balen / and whan he sawe kynge Arthur / he alyght of his hors / and cam to the kynge on foote / and salewed hym / by my hede saide Arthur ye be welcome / Sire ryght now cam rydynge this way a knyght makynge grete moorne / for what cause I can not telle

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. A ring fitted upon the head of a lance to prevent wounding an adversary in tilting.

See also

• grieve
• lament
• sorrow

 

Anagrams

• Munro, munro