funeral
//ˈfjuː.nə.ɹəl//
Forms
- Plural
- funerals
- Comparative
- more funeral
- Superlative
- most funeral
Definitions
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.
- Many mourners turned up at the local artist's funeral to pay homage.
1.Alternative spelling of funereal.
- All was funeral gloom and hope never whispered its cheering promises there.
- The very funeral pageantry disguised behind-the-scenes struggles for control over Sidney's image.
- There was something dramatic and theatrical in the very funeral ceremonies with which Demetrius was honored.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3152
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
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.