English

moirologists in Ancient Egypt

Noun

moirologist ‎(plural moirologists)

1. (rare) A professional mourner.
   • 1886, "The Greek Islanders", The Quarterly Review, Volume 163, page 215, July & October 1886:

     The moirologists will sing of the loneliness of the living, of the horrors of death, of the black earth, and the cold dreary frozen Hades; and, in the strange language of hyperbole, in which they love to indulge, they will wonder how the sun could venture to shine on so lamentable a scene as the one before them.

   • 2009, Samantha Weaver, "Strange But True", The Mountain Eagle, 20 May 2009:

     Even as recently as the early 1900s, there was a report of a moirologists' strike in Paris.

   • 2009, Jeff Regensburger, "CAW: Creating Our History", Columbus Underground, 7 April 2012:

     Cancel the eulogies and send the moirologists home. We don’t need them just yet. It turns out the death of the Columbus art scene was an exaggeration after all.

Synonyms

• wailer