mourner

/ˈmɔɹnɚ/

//ˈmɔɹnɚ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mourner" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mourner” is uncommon English (frequency #70,928 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,928
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone filled with or expressing grief or sadness, especially over a death; someone who mourns.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mourner · mourner · English

mourner · rank #70,928 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,928
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH moult

Nearest frequency peer: moult (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “mourner”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “mourner” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mourner
PropertyValue
Headwordmourner
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɔɹnɚ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#70,928
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “mourner” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).mournerfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “moult” (#70,927), “Movember” (#70,929), “Moylan” (#70,930). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mourner” is #70,928. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mourner is uncommon English at frequency #70,928 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɔɹnɚ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for mourner, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mourner, mornere, equivalent to mourn + -er. The correct English form is mourner, spelled M-O-U-R-N-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone filled with or expressing grief or sadness, especially over a death; someone who mourns.
  2. 2
    Any of a number of suboscine birds in the related familes Tityridae and Tyrannidae.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mourner appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Disuniter of all affection—awful seal to life's nothingness—warning and witness of power and judgment—Death has always enow of terror and sorrow, even when there are many to comfort the mourner, when the path has been smoothed for the sufferer, and life offers all its best and brightest to soothe the survivor; […]
  2. I stood close to heartsick mourners and worried that I would not sustain the enormousness of their spiritual weight.

Etymology

From Middle English mourner, mornere, equivalent to mourn + -er.

This word in other languages

Trauernder(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mourner"?
"mourner" is spelled M-O-U-R-N-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɔɹnɚ/.
What does "mourner" mean?
As a noun, "mourner" means: Someone filled with or expressing grief or sadness, especially over a death; someone who mourns.
How do you pronounce "mourner"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mourner" is /ˈmɔɹnɚ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mourner"?
From Middle English mourner, mornere, equivalent to mourn + -er. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mourner", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mordant#70,922Murrell#70,936moisten#70,917Muscovy#70,940

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list