keening

English

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keening

Where it comes from

From keen + -ing, from Irish caoin.

adjective

not comparable Sharp, shrill, especially of a sound. The keening sound of a dentist's drill sets my teeth on edge.

noun keenings

countable, uncountable Intense mournful wailing after a death, often at a funeral or wake. Keening. I remember keening that seemed to go on all through the night: shrill, sharp, shiny, needles of sound piercing cleanly and deeply to let the anguish in, not out.
broadly, countable, uncountable An unpleasant wailing sound.

verb

gerund, participle, present present participle and gerund of keen

Translations

Every language

adj Sharp, shrill, especially of a sound

Français	perçant

noun Intense mournful wailing

Français	lamentation
Deutsch	Totenklage, Beklagen des/der Toten

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MLA

"keening." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/keening. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

keening. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/keening

Chicago

"keening." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/keening.

BibTeX

@misc{keening_2026,
  title = {keening},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/keening},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}