To mourn is to feel or show deep sadness because someone has died or something very important has been lost. People mourn through crying, talking, rituals, or quiet reflection.
From Old English *murnan* “to be anxious, to grieve,” related to German *trauern* and Gothic *maurnan*. The word has always carried the sense of heavy emotional sorrow.
Mourning isn’t just sadness; it’s the mind’s way of rewiring itself to live in a world that has changed. Many cultures build special time periods and rituals for mourning because the brain and body need that structured space. The word captures a universal human process that every society has had to name.
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