Mourning
Etymology
From Old English "murnan," "to feel or express sorrow, be anxious about." The word has always leaned toward outward expression and duration — a state you are in and eventually come out of, not just a pang you feel.
noun · /MOR-ning/
The outward, often socially shaped process of expressing and working through loss.
What it names
Use it for the public, patterned side of loss — the practices and passage of time — rather than the raw private ache.
Example
In many cultures a widow is expected to be in mourning for a full year, whatever she happens to be feeling on a given Tuesday.
Related idea
The pairing with grief is the whole point: Freud’s essay “Mourning and Melancholia” treats mourning as the healthy work that metabolizes grief, versus melancholia, where the loss is never resolved and turns inward.
See also