Mourning, n.
Etymology: [AS. murnung.]
1. The act of sorrowing or expressing grief; lamentation; sorrow.
2. Garb, drapery, or emblems indicative of grief, esp. clothing or a badge of somber black. The houses to their tops with black were spread, And ev'n the pavements were with mourning hid. Dryden. Deep mourning. See under Deep.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Mourning, a.
1. Grieving; sorrowing; lamenting.
2. Employed to express sorrow or grief; worn or used as appropriate to the condition of one bereaved or sorrowing; as, mourning garments; a mourning ring; a mourning pin, and the like. Mourning bride (Bot.), a garden flower (Scabiosa atropurpurea) with dark purple or crimson flowers in flattened heads. -- Mourning dove (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. -- Mourning warbler (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.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for mourning; he lists it under grief.
Where he writes about it:
Affliction expresses a deep heart-sorrow and is applied also to the misfortune producing such sorrow; mourning most frequently denotes sorrow publicly expressed, or the public expression of such sorrow as may reasonably be expected; as, it is common to observe thirty days of mourning on the death of an officer of state. — from grief
To mourn is to feel or express sadness or distress because of some loss, affliction, or misfortune; mourning is thought of as prolonged, grief or regret may be transient. — from mourn