Link Centre Dictionary

funeral

fu·ne·ral

UK/ˈfjuː.nə.ɹəl/ US/ˈfjuːn.ɹəl/ common

noun

1.

a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated

  • “hundreds of people attended his funeral”

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French funerailles pl (“funeral rites”), from Medieval Latin fūnerālia (“funeral rites”), originally neuter plural of Late Latin fūnerālis (“having to do with a funeral”), from Latin fūnus (“funeral, death, corpse”), origin unknown, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“to die”). Singular and plural used interchangeably in English until circa 1700. The adjective funereal is first attested 1725, by influence of Middle French funerail, from Latin funereus, from funus. First attested in 1437. Displaced native Old English līcþeġnung (literally “dead body service”).

Phrases

  • arrange someone's funeral
  • funeral biscuit
  • funeral celebrant
  • funeral director
  • funeral doom
  • funeral door
  • funeral home
  • funeral march

Related words

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.