Mourn Meaning
/mɔɹn/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo express sadness or sorrow for; to grieve over (especially a death).
verbTo engage in the social customs of mourning; to commemorate a death and/or honour the deceased socially.
Sentence Examples
Don't mourn over the loss of your loved one too long.
God's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The family will ____ the loss of their beloved dog for many months.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The entire community gathered at the village church to ____ the loss of the beloved local teacher who had passed away earlier that week.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English mornen, mournen, from Old English murnan, from Proto-Germanic *murnaną. Cognate with French morne (“gloomy”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"We mourn in black; why mourn we not in blood?"
— 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]:
"Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 23:2:
"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."
— 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Nightmare:
"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"
— 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “vij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book II:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The family will ____ the loss of their beloved dog for many months.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The entire community gathered at the village church to ____ the loss of the beloved local teacher who had passed away earlier that week.