keening
English
editEtymology
editkeen + -ing, from Irish caoin.
Adjective
editkeening (not comparable)
Noun
editkeening (countable and uncountable, plural keenings)
- Intense mournful wailing after a death, often at a funeral or wake.
- 1988, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, Faber & Faber Limited (2021), page 85:
- Keening. I remember keening that seemed to go on all through the night: shrill, sharp, shiny, needles of sound piercing cleanly and deeply to let the anguish in, not out.
- (by extension) An unpleasant wailing sound.
Translations
editVerb
editkeening
- present participle and gerund of keen