Anyone who is grieving for a person who has died is a mourner. Funerals give mourners the opportunity to remember and say goodbye to a loved one. While a mourner is anyone who mourns someone's death, the word is often used to mean "person attending a funeral."
Discover the ancient and modern role of professional mourners around the world, from Egypt to the U.S., and why this unique funeral tradition still exists today.
The simplest definition is that professional mourners are paid to attend a funeral and express sorrow publicly—often through wailing, chanting, singing, or spoken lament.
Rather than focus on the pain and pathological consequences of death, attention is directly paid to the constructive ways that mourners grieve.
The mourners are actors who are paid by the hour to mourn in the crowd. Before the funeral, the actors are informed about the deceased and the life that they lived.
A mourner is a person who attends a funeral, especially as a relative or friend of the dead person. Weeks after his death, mourners still gather outside the house. Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers