keen
5
9.9
A loud, sad song or cry for someone who has died
- noun
- /kiːn/
- Archaic
:
lamentación
- At the funeral, the sound of the keen filled the air as friends and family mourned their loss.
Examples
-
The traditional keen was performed with deep emotion, honoring the memory of the loved one who had passed away.
-
She sang a haunting keen that echoed through the lonely hills, expressing her sorrow for the departed.
-
Her own mother, Mary Aglae Keen Randolph, died of typhoid just a month after the birth of her second child (also named Mary).
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
17
6.1
A sad song, poem, or cry that shows grief
is the ritualized wailing sung at funerals in Scottish and Irish culture
2
8.6
A long high sad cry people make for someone who died
is the traditional funeral lament sung in Irish and Scottish culture
1
9.9
A sad cry or song that shows sadness
is a specific funeral wail used in Irish or Scottish ceremonies
9.9
A sad song sung at a funeral to honor the dead
is the same funeral lament but emphasizes a wailing form at funerals
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
Keen for the mourning song comes from the Irish word caoineadh, which means 'to cry' or 'weeping', and so a keen is a sorrowful song sung for the dead.