English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English bemornen, from Old English bemurnan (to mourn, bewail, deplore, be sorry for, care for, take heed for), equivalent to be- (over, about) +‎ mourn. Cognate with Old Saxon bimornian (to bemourn).

Verb edit

bemourn (third-person singular simple present bemourns, present participle bemourning, simple past and past participle bemourned)

  1. (transitive, rare) To weep or mourn over.
    • 1974, Douglas L. Oliver, Ancient Tahitian Society:
      From the neighbouring settlements and valleys an immense concourse of people collected to bemourn the death of the arii, the Chiefly ladies bleeding themselves more as a matter of form than from grief or real sentiment, []