atrate means one dressed in black; a mourner. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
ATRATE — [Noun] One dressed in black, especially a mourner. From the Latin ātrātus, past participle of ātrāre ("to make black"), from āter ("dark, black"). Unlike "mourner" (which centers on the internal state of grief) or "widow" (which specifies a marital condition), "atrate" denotes the stark, formal uniform of loss itself. It is the silhouette against a grey cemetery wall, the collective darkness of a procession moving like a shadow across a green hill, and the oppressive weight of a black veil holding the warmth of a face in a private, dark cocoon—a walking epitaph, where the color of the clothes becomes the color of the world.
noun
- One dressed in black; a mourner