English Explanatory Dictionary

funeral

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A ceremony to honor and remember a deceased person, often distinguished from a memorial service by the presence of the body of the deceased.
  2. A funeral sermon.
adj
  1. Alternative spelling of funereal.

Pronunciation

/ˈfjuː.nə.ɹəl/ /ˈfjuːn.ɹəl/ /ˈfju.nəɹ.əl/ [fjɪu̯.nɚəl] en-us-funeral.ogg

Word forms

funeral funerals funerall more funeral most funeral

Etymology

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”).

Related words

funerary funereal celebration of life cemetery mortuary obsequy obsequies

Derived words

arrange someone's funeral cyberfuneral funeral biscuit funeral celebrant funeral director funeral doom funeral door funeral-goer funeralgoer funeral home funeralist funeralize funeral march funeral parlor funeral parlour funeral pie funeral potatoes funeral procession funeral pyre funeral rite funeral service funeral store it's one's funeral it's someone's funeral jazz funeral mass funeral Mormon funeral potatoes nonfuneral pauper's funeral paupers' funerals postfuneral prefuneral public health funeral state funeral the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral the corpse at every funeral you'll be late for your own funeral
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