Middle English Dictionary Entry
mǒrne adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | mǒrne adj. |
| Etymology | Prob. OE; cp. unmurn, unmurnlīce; also cp. ME mǒrnen v. & OF morne adj., from Gmc. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
Mournful, sorrowful; grievous.
Associated quotations
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)16159 : Þa weoren Bruttes mid blisse auulled bliðe an mode þæ ær weoren murne.
- c1300(?c1225) Horn (Cmb Gg.4.27)704 : Aylmar aȝen gan turne Wel Modi & wel Murne [vr. Mourne].
- c1300 The milde Lomb (Arun 248)15 : Saint Iohan..biheld with murne chere is maister þat im Louede and ches.
- c1330(?a1300) Arth.& M.(Auch)8213 : His hert was sore, his cher murne, Lenger nold he þer soiourne.
- c1330(?a1300) Arth.& M.(Auch)8328 : Þer lete we hem soiurne and speke we of chaunces hard and murne!
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- c1350(a1333) Shoreham Poems (Add 17376)80/40 : O Swete leuedy, wat þey was wo, Þo ihesus by-come inorne [read: morne].
Note: This quot. (present in the print MED) has been removed from the body of this entry, because the same quot. was and is taken unemended under orne adj., 'inorne' being construed there as a prepositional phrase. Either interpretation is plausible.