Caoin

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. To lament or keen in mourning for the dead ; to utter a wailing cry of sorrow ; an act or song expressing deep grief
2. Expressing profound loss through ritual weeping or loud lamentation for someone deceased ; giving voice to sorrow in ritualized mourning ; performing a traditional vocal tribute to the dead
3. Engaging in the heartfelt, often wailing mourning of someone who has passed ; making a plaintive cry associated with loss ; enacting a customary vocal expression of grief for the departed

Etymology: In Irish, "caoin" describes the loud, rhythmic wailing performed over a body at a wake or funeral, and the practice itself was called keening. The English word "keen," meaning a funeral lament, was borrowed from the Irish "caoineadh," the noun form of this verb, and it kept the sense of mourning aloud. English already had its own "keen," meaning sharp or eager, from Old English, and the two are unrelated. Speakers of English who met the Irish custom simply took over the sound of the Irish word, so one spelling now hides two separate histories. The lament itself was often improvised, with mourners singing or chanting the dead person's virtues and sorrows in a high, sustained cry.

Synonyms: kind, gentle, gracious, benevolent, merciful

Antonyms: cruel, harsh, unkind, merciless, malevolent