Etymograph

English

bemourn

Bemourn comes from Old English bemurnan ‘to mourn, bewail, deplore, be sorry for, care…’, from Proto-Germanic *murnaną ‘to feel sorrow or grief’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to think’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-1‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*murnaną2‘to feel sorrow or grief’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150murnan3‘to care for, worry about’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bemurnan4‘to mourn, bewail, deplore, be sorry for, care for, take heed for’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bemornen4
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1974bemourn4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *murnaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English murnan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English bemurnan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English bemourn
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1974, Douglas L. Oliver: “From the neighbouring settlements and valleys an immense concourse…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *murnaną‘to think’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*murnanąWiktionary, Old English murnan‘to feel sorrow or grief’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150murnanWiktionary, Old English bemurnan‘to care for, worry about’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bemurnanWiktionary, English bemourn‘to mourn, bewail, deplore, be sorry for, care for, take heed for’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bemornenWiktionary, English bemourn
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1974bemournWiktionary, English bemourn. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1974, Douglas L. Oliver: “From the neighbouring settlements and valleys an immense concourse…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to think’

memory, merit, memorable, martyr, memoir, mer, memorandum, memorabilia, moratorium, mora, memoria, 14 more

Today it means

verb To weep or mourn over.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bemourn”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *murnaną, Old English murnan, Old English bemurnan. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- / bemourn

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