English▸ verb [no object] wail in grief for a dead person; sing a keen:
the body of Johnny was taken by his own people who keened over him.
▪ make an eerie wailing sound:
the wind blew and wild birds keened in the sky.
▸ noun an Irish funeral song accompanied by wailing in lamentation for the dead.
– ORIGIN mid 19th century : from Irish caoinim ‘I wail’.