bereavement

bereavement

n. the condition of having lost a loved one to death. The bereaved person may experience emotional pain and distress (see grief; traumatic grief) and may or may not express this distress to others (see mourning; disenfranchised grief); individual grief and mourning responses vary. Bereavement may also signify a change in social status (e.g., from wife to widow). —bereaved adj.