Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The actions or expressions of one who has suffered a bereavement.
  • noun Conventional outward signs of grief for the dead, such as a black armband or black clothes.
  • noun The period during which a death is mourned.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See mourn.
  • noun The act of lamenting or expressing grief; lamentation; sorrow.
  • noun The outward tokens or signs of sorrow for the dead, such as the draping of buildings in giving expression to public sorrow, the wearing of garments of a particular color, the use of black-bordered handkerchiefs, black-edged writing-paper and visiting-cards, etc.
  • Having to do with mourning for the dead; of such kind as is used in mourning for the dead: as, a mourning garment; a mourning hat-band.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of sorrowing or expressing grief; lamentation; sorrow.
  • noun Garb, drapery, or emblems indicative of grief, esp. clothing or a badge of somber black.
  • noun See under Deep.
  • adjective Grieving; sorrowing; lamenting.
  • adjective Employed to express sorrow or grief; worn or used as appropriate to the condition of one bereaved or sorrowing
  • adjective (Bot.) a garden flower (Scabiosa atropurpurea) with dark purple or crimson flowers in flattened heads.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) a wild dove (Zenaidura macroura) found throughout the United States; -- so named from its plaintive note. Called also Carolina dove. See Illust. under Dove.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) an American ground warbler (Geothlypis Philadelphia). The male has the head, neck, and chest, deep ash-gray, mixed with black on the throat and chest; other lower parts are pure yellow.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of mourn.
  • noun The act of expressing or feeling sorrow or regret; lamentation.
  • noun Feeling or expressing sorrow over someone's death.
  • noun The traditional clothes worn by those who mourn (in Western societies, typically coloured black).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief
  • adjective sorrowful through loss or deprivation
  • noun state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Some said that "Browning" might have been added to the name, and while others marvelled that the husband wore no badge of mourning, a few said wisely that the _mourning_ was visible in other than the usual signs -- in the hair gray before its time, and in the deep-cut lines which a _living_ sorrow alone had made.

    Rosamond — or, the Youthful Error Mary Jane Holmes 1866

  • As to Isis, as soon as the report reached her she immediately cut off one of the locks of her hair, [Footnote: The hair cut off as a sign of mourning was usually laid in the tomb of the dead.] and put on mourning apparel upon the very spot where she then happened to be, which accordingly from this accident has ever since been called Koptis, or _the city of mourning_, though some are of opinion that this word rather signifies _deprivation_.

    Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life 1895

  • Thus, insofar as I always mourn not only my lost friend but something lost of myself, of my own emotional world, as well, my mourning is at once both an act of loyalty and of disloyalty to my friend.

    Robert D. Stolorow: The Work of Mourning, by Jacques Derrida Robert D. Stolorow 2010

  • Thus, insofar as I always mourn not only my lost friend but something lost of myself, of my own emotional world, as well, my mourning is at once both an act of loyalty and of disloyalty to my friend.

    Robert D. Stolorow: The Work of Mourning, by Jacques Derrida Robert D. Stolorow 2010

  • Yes | No | Report from metsfan6734@yah ... wrote 5 weeks 17 hours ago the mourning is usually the best time that I seem to see the most.

    What is the best time to hunt rabbits? 2009

  • Thus, insofar as I always mourn not only my lost friend but something lost of myself, of my own emotional world, as well, my mourning is at once both an act of loyalty and of disloyalty to my friend.

    Robert D. Stolorow: The Work of Mourning, by Jacques Derrida Robert D. Stolorow 2010

  • Yes | No | Report from metsfan6734@yah ... wrote 5 weeks 17 hours ago the mourning is usually the best time that I seem to see the most.

    What is the best time to hunt rabbits? 2009

  • This mourning is a fruit of the Spirit of grace, an evidence of a work of grace in the soul, and

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721

  • I'm in mourning, the kind of mourning we've all endured when a dear friend informs us "I've got cancer, and they think it's terminal."

    Archive 2005-06-26 Candace 2005

  • Joining her in mourning is Charlie’s girlfriend Nell who has worn a ragged anklet cloth he gave her 35 - plus days ago just prior to the lethal mugging.

    Last Kiss-Luanne Rice « The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews 2008

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