professional female mourner; keener
A woman hired to wail and mourn at funerals, a practice seen in some traditional cultures. The term is primarily historical or ethnographic.
See also: 泣き男
At old-fashioned funerals, professional female mourners would wail loudly to lament the deceased.
The custom of hiring keeners still remains in this region.
Standard kanji spelling.
Variant spelling without okurigana.
Compound of 泣き (naki, 'crying') + 女 (onna, 'woman').