mourning

UK/ˈmɔːnɪŋ//ˈmoɹnɪŋ/

mourning noun: the act of expressing or feeling sorrow or regret; lamentation. Also the present participle and gerund of mourn.

Noun

mourning (countable and uncountable, plural mournings)

The act of expressing or feeling sorrow or regret; lamentation.
Specifically, the act of expressing or feeling sorrow regarding a death or loss.
- A blind bearing the monogram G.V.T. is pulled down over the waiting room window as if still in mourning for the passing of the railway.1941 June, “Notes and News: The Derelict Glyn Valley Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, page 279
A social state or period that acknowledges a recent bereavement, which may involve social withdrawal, the observance of customs or rituals related to bereavement, etc.
- And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a...1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
- Unsurprisingly for a man who went into mourning for three years after the death in 1994 of his own father, the legendary leader Kim Il-sung, and who in the first 30 years of his political career made no public statements, even to his own people, Kim's career is riddled with claims, counter claims...2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian
The traditional clothes worn by those who mourn (in Western societies, typically coloured black).
- "My greatest wish now," she added, "is to get back to Kansas, for Aunt Em will surely think something dreadful has happened to me, and that will make her put on mourning; and unless the crops are better this year than they were last, I am sure Uncle Henry cannot afford it."1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC
- ‘I'm bored. I can't go out anywhere because it's too soon and I have to wear this disgusting mourning.’1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 88
A drape or covering associated with mourning.
- The houses to their tops with black were spread, / And ev'n the pavements were with mourning hid.1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

Proper noun capitalized: Mourning

Mourning (plural Mournings)

A surname.

Also used as

mourning is also the present participle and gerund of mourn.

mourning meaning in Hindi and Arabic

mourning in Hindi

act of expressing sorrow: विलाप vilāp
expressing sorrow over death: शोक śok

mourning in Arabic

expressing sorrow over death: حِدَاد ḥidād
clothes worn by mourners: ثَوْبُ حِدَاد ṯawbu ḥidād

Examples of mourning in a sentence

She was from a large family and had many friends, so the funeral was crowded with mourning survivors.
The villagers are mourning their dead.
Why did they not only enjoin mourning but entreat the suppression of laughter?

All 35 example sentences with mourning

Forms of mourning

Noun
plural	mournings
Proper noun
plural	Mournings

Origin of mourning

By surface analysis, mourn + -ing.

Words formed from mourning

Phrases with mourning

Words that rhyme with mourning

Questions about mourning

What does mourning mean?: Mourning means the act of expressing or feeling sorrow or regret; lamentation.
What is mourning in Hindi?: Mourning in Hindi is विलाप (vilāp), शोक (śok). See Mourning meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is mourning?: Mourning can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce mourning?: Mourning is pronounced /ˈmoɹnɪŋ/ (US).
What is the plural of mourning?: The plural of mourning is mournings.

Words near mourning in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: mourning (page history and authors); Mourning (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-mourning.ogg.

Cite this entry: “mourning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mourning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.