Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Funeral |
FuneralNoun1. A ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated; "hundreds of people attended his funeral". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "funeral" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | FUNERAL, n. A pageant whereby we attest our respect for the dead by enriching the undertaker, and strengthen our grief by an expenditure that deepens our groans and doubles our tears. The savage dies -- they sacrifice a horse To bear to happy hunting-grounds the corse. Our friends expire -- we make the money fly In hope their souls will chase it to the sky. Jex Wopley. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Bible | Funeral Burying was among the Jews the only mode of disposing of corpses (Gen. 23:19; 25:9; 35:8, 9, etc.). The first traces of burning the dead are found in 1 Sam. 31:12. The burning of the body was affixed by the law of Moses as a penalty to certain crimes (Lev. 20:14; 21:9). To leave the dead unburied was regarded with horror (1 Kings 13:22; 14:11; 16:4; 21:24, etc.). In the earliest times of which we have record kinsmen carried their dead to the grave (Gen. 25:9; 35:29; Judg. 16:31), but in later times this was done by others (Amos 6:16). Immediately after decease the body was washed, and then wrapped in a large cloth (Acts 9:37; Matt. 27:59; Mark 15:46). In the case of persons of distinction, aromatics were laid on the folds of the cloth (John 19:39; comp. John 12:7). As a rule the burial (q.v.) took place on the very day of the death (Acts 5:6, 10), and the body was removed to the grave in an open coffin or on a bier (Luke 7:14). After the burial a funeral meal was usually given (2 Sam. 3:35; Jer. 16:5, 7; Hos. 9:4). Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Dream Interpretation | To see a funeral, denotes an unhappy marriage and sickly offspring. To dream of the funeral of a stranger, denotes unexpected worries. To see the funeral of your child, may denote the health of your family, but very grave disappointments may follow from a friendly source. To attend a funeral in black, foretells an early widowhood. To dream of the funeral of any relative, denotes nervous troubles and family worries. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Literature | Funeral means a torchlight procession (from the Latin, funis, a torch), because funerals among the Romans took place at night by torchlight, that magistrates and priests might not be violated by seeing a corpse, and so be prevented from performing their sacred duties. "Funus [a funeral], from fune or funalia [torches] ... originally made of ropes." - Adams: Roman Antiquities (Funerals). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A funeral is a ceremony to mark a person's death.Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures. In some cultures the dead are worshipped; this is commonly called ancestor worship. The word comes from the Latin funus, which had a variety of meanings, including the corpse and the funerary rites themselves.
Funeral rites are as old as the human race itself. In the Shanidar cave in Iraq, Neandertal skeletons have been discovered with a characteristic layer of pollen, which suggests that Neandertals buried the dead with gifts of flowers; it has been interpreted as suggesting that Neandertals believed in an afterlife, and in any case were aware of their own mortality and were capable of mourning.
Funerals in the contemporary United States
Within the United States of America, in most cultural groups and regions, the funeral rituals have been divided into three principal parts:
Note that this part of the mourning process is part of Christian tradition, but foreign to Judaism. Jewish funerals are held soon after death, and the corpse is never displayed.
- a "viewing" or "wake" in which the embalmed body of the deceased person is placed on display in the coffin. At the viewing, the friends and relations greet the more distant relatives and friends of the dead person(s) in a social gathering with little in the way of ritual. The viewing often takes place on one or two evenings before the funeral. The only prescribed part of this gathering is that the attendants frequently sign a book kept by the decedent's survivors, to remind them that they have attended; and they are expected to view the decedent in the coffin. The decedent's closest friends and relatives who are unable to attend frequently send flowers to the viewing. The viewing typically takes place at a funeral home, which is equipped with gathering rooms where the viewing can be conducted. The viewing may end with a prayer service; in the Catholic funeral, this may include a rosary. The viewing is either "open casket," in which the embalmed body of the deceased has been clothed and treated with cosmetics for display; or "closed casket," in which the coffin is closed.
- a memorial service, which is sometimes referred to on its own as a funeral and is often officiated by a member of the clergy of the decedent's religion. In this service, the person officiating, and on occasion the decedent's close friends and relatives, may read eulogies concerning the decedent's life and activities. Religious rituals, prayers, readings from the Bible or other sacred texts, hymns, and similar rites are often conducted at this service. (In some religious denominations, for example, Roman Catholic and Anglican, eulogies are prohibited or discouraged during this service.)
- a burial service, conducted at the side of the grave, tomb, or mausoleum or at the crematorium, at which the body of the decedent is buried or cremated at the conclusion.
- a light dinner (sometimes called a wake) follows the burial service in some traditions. This is sometimes prepared by women's committees of the decedent's church.
Generally speaking, the number of people who are considered obliged to attend each of these three rituals by etiquette decreases at each step. Distant relatives and acquaintances may be called upon to attend the viewing; the decedent's closer relatives and local friends attend the memorial service; if the burial is on a day other than the funeral, only the decedent's closest relatives attend the burial service, if one is conducted.
Funerals in ancient Rome
In ancient Rome, the eldest surviving male of the household, the pater familias, was summoned to the death-bed, where he attempted to catch and inhale the last breath of the decedent.
Funerals of the socially prominent were usually undertaken by professional undertakers called libitinarii. No direct description has been passed down of Roman funeral rites. These rites usually included a public procession to the tomb or pyre where the body was to be cremated. The most noteworthy thing about this procession was that the survivors bore masks bearing the images of the family's deceased ancestors. The right to carry the masks in public was eventually restricted to families prominent enough to have held curule magistracies. Mimes, dancers, and musicians hired by the undertakers, as well as professional mourners, took part in these processions. Less well to do Romans could join benevolent funerary societies (collegia funeraticia) who undertook these rites on their behalf.
Nine days after the disposal of the body, by burial or cremation, a feast was given (cena novendialis) and a libation poured over the grave or the ashes. Since most Romans were cremated, the ashes were typically collected in an urn and placed in a niche in a collective tomb called a columbarium (literally, "dovecote"). During this nine days period, the house was considered to be tainted, funesta, and was hung with yew or cypress branches to warn bypassers. At the end of the period, the house was swept in an attempt to purge it of the dead person's ghost.
Several Roman holidays commemmorated a family's dead ancestors, including the Parentalia, held February 13 through 21, to honour the family's ancestors; and the Lemuria, held on May 9, 11, and 13, in which ghosts (larvæ) were feared to be active, and the pater familias sought to appease them with offerings of beans.
Final disposition of the dead
Various cultures have devised different ways of finally disposing of the bodies of the dead. Some place the dead in tombs of various sorts, either individually, or in specially designated tracts of land that house tombs. Burial in a graveyard is one common form of tomb. In some places, such as New Orleans, Louisiana, burials are impractical because the ground water is too high; there tombs are placed above ground. Elsewhere, a separate building for a tomb is usually reserved for the socially prominent and wealthy. Especially grand aboveground tombs are called mausoleums. Other buildings used as tombs include the crypts in churches; burial in these places is again usually a privilege given to the socially prominent dead.
Burial was not always permanent. In some areas, burial grounds needed to be re-used because of limited space. In these areas, once the dead have decomposed to skeletons, the bones are removed; after their removal they can be placed in an ossuary.
"Burial at sea" is a somewhat misleading phrase that identifies the deliberate disposal of a corpse into the ocean, wrapped and tied with weights to make sure it sinks. It is a common practice in navies and sea-faring nations; in the Church of England, special forms of funeral service were added to the Book of Common Prayer to cover it.
Cremation, also, is an old custom; it was the usual mode of disposing of a corpse in ancient Rome. Vikings were occasionally cremated in their ships, and afterwards the location of the site was marked with standing stones. In recent years, despite the objections of some religious groups, cremation has become more and more widely used. Orthodox Judaism and the Eastern Orthodox Church forbid cremation, as do most Muslims; Roman Catholicism allows it, but does not encourage it. Most varieties of Protestantism are indifferent to it.
Rarer forms of disposal of the dead include exposure, where the corpse is exposed to the elements. This was done by some groups of Native Americans; it is still practiced by Zoroastrianss in Bombay, where the Towers of Silence allow vultures and other carrion eating birds to dispose of the corpses.
Cannibalism is also practiced post-mortem in some countries. The practice has been linked to the spread of a prion disease called kuru.
Control by the decedent of the details of the funeral
In law in the United States, the deceased have surprisingly little say in the manner in which their funerals can be conducted. The law generally holds that the funeral rituals are for the benefit of the survivors, rather than to express the personal whims and tastes of the decedent.
The decedent may, in most U.S. jurisdictions, provide instructions as to his funeral by means of a Last Will and Testament. These instructions can be given some legal effect if bequests are made contingent on the heirs carrying them out, with alternative gifts if they are not followed. This assumes, of course, that the decedent has enough of an estate to make the heirs pause before doing something that will invoke the alternate bequest. To be effective, also, the will must be easily available, and some notion of what it provides must be known to the decedent's survivors.
Some people dislike the clutter and display of flowers at funerals, and feel that there is an unseemly competition in the number and size of the floral arrangements sent. Many newspapers refuse to print an obituary that requests that flowers not be sent; to do so would be to offend the florists' industry. Many obituaries, however, contain notices regarding "memorial gifts" to a charity. It is usually understood in these situations that a gift to the charity made in memory of the decedent relieves the donor of the social duty of sending flowers.
Anatomical gifts
Another way of avoiding some of the rituals and costs of a traditional funeral is for the decedent to donate some or all of her or his body to a medical school or similar institution for the purpose of instruction in anatomy, or for similar purposes. Students of medicine and osteopathy frequently study anatomy from donated cadavers; they are also useful in forensic research.
Making an anatomical gift is a separate transaction from being an organ donor, in which any useful organs are removed from the unembalmed cadaver for medical transplant. Under a Uniform Act in force in most jurisdictions of the United States, being an organ donor is a simple process that can often be accomplished when you have your driver's license renewed.
Making an anatomical gift requires a procedure that varies from one jurisdiction to the next in the United States. For advice in doing so, it is best that you contact the institution you wish to make the gift to; they usually have staff that processes these requests, and who can send you any needed paperwork and a donor card to carry. It is also prudent to tell your physician and your close relatives of your intention to make such a gift; your cadaver will require special treatment after your death to be useful. There are some medical conditions, such as amputations, or various surgeries, that can make your cadaver unsuitable for these purposes. Conversely, the bodies of people who had certain medical conditions are useful for research into those conditions. All US medical schools rely on the generosity of "anatomical donors" for the teaching of anatomy. Typically the remains are cremated once the students have completed their anatomy classes, and many medical schools now hold a memorial service at that time as well.
See also: mourning; shiv'ah; requiem
External links:
List of anatomical gift contacts from Albany Medical School
Information about making an anatomical gift at Georgetown University School of Medicine
Article about post-mortem cannibalism
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Funeral."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Interment | Verb: inter, bury; lay in the grave, consign to the grave, lay in the tomb, entomb, in tomb; inhume; lay out, perform a funeral, embalm, mummify; toll the knell; put to bed with a shovel; inurn. |
Noun: interment, burial, sepulture; inhumation; obsequies, exequies; funeral, wake, pyre, funeral pile; cremation. | |
Funeral, funeral rite, funeral solemnity; kneel, passing bell, tolling; dirge. (lamentation); cypress; orbit, dead march, muffled drum; mortuary, undertaker, mute; elegy; funeral, funeral oration, funeral sermon; epitaph. | |
Slowness | Verb: move slowly; adVerb: creep, crawl, lag, slug, drawl, linger, loiter, saunter; plod, trudge, stump along, lumber; trail, drag; dawdle; (be inactive); grovel, worm one's way, steal along; job on, rub on, bundle on; toddle, waddle, wabble, slug, traipse, slouch, shuffle, halt, hobble, limp, caludicate, shamble; flag, falter, trotter, stagger; mince, step short; march in slow time, march in funeral procession; take one's time; hang fire; (be late). |
Adverb: slowly; Adjective: leisurely; piano, adagio; largo, larghetto; at half speed, under easy sail; at a foots pace, at a snail's pace, at a funeral pace; in slow time, with mincing steps, with clipped wings; haud passibus aequis. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Hey Vaughan, I heard you been putting it on ol' Albert Sellers who works over at the funeral home (Sling Blade; writing credit: Charles Chaplin) God, I love a good funeral! (Hot Shots!; writing credit: Jim Abrahams; Pat Proft) I don't remember working in a funeral home (Men in Black II; writing credit: Lowell Cunningham; Robert Gordon) Death is #2! That means that at a funeral, the average American would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy (Seinfeld; writing credit: Andreas Lenze; Bea Schmidt) Why waste your time going after Chisum, let me handle Chisum, there will be a nice little funeral right here in Lincoln County (Chisum; writing credit: Andrew J. Fenady) | |
Lyrics | I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral (One Week; performing artist: Barenaked Ladies) Performed at Princess Diana's funeral, Saturday September 6, 1997 (Candle In The Wind 1997; performing artist: Elton John) But you'll neva see her, she won't even be at your FUNERAL (Cleanin' Out My Closet; performing artist: Eminem) The funeral march, (THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING; performing artist: King Crimson) All the long black funeral cars left the scene (Birdland; performing artist: Patti Smith) | |
Clever | I refused to attend his funeral. But I wrote a very nice letter explaining that I approved of it. (references; author: Mark Twain) I did not attend his funeral; but I wrote a nice letter saying I approved of it. [About a politician who had recently died] (references; author: Mark Twain) If the funeral procession is at night, do folks drive with their lights off? (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | That's Your Funeral (1972) Funeral Games (1968) After the Funeral (1960) Funeral (1942) The Man From Funeral Range (1918) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
References |
|
Books | |
Periodicals | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | The Air Force honored 2nd Lt. Richard Van de Geer with a full-honors funeral Oct. 27, at Arlington National Cemetery. Van de Geer died when the CH-53 helicopter he was co-piloting was shot down approaching Ko Tang Island, Cambodia, during the USS Mayaquez. | ![]() | Retired Lt. Gen. Harry A. Goodall presents the U.S. flag to the family of 2nd Lt. Richard Van de Geer during a full-honors funeral Oct. 27, at Arlington National Cemetery. Goodall was the wing commander at the time Van de Geer participated in the USS Maya. |
![]() | Base Hospital No. 9. Chateauroux, France : Funeral Procession passing out of the Main gate. Credit: National Library of Medicine. | ![]() | U. S. Base Hospital Number 3, Vauclaire, France. : Firing squad, first funeral at hospital. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
![]() | Account of his funeral, from a New Orleans, Louisiana, newspaper of 30 June 1889. He was the builder and original owner of CSS Manassas (1861-62). Credit: NAVY. | ![]() | An Tjilatjap, Java, 6 February 1942, seen from USS Marblehead (CL-12), which was passing close aboard. Houston's colors are half-masted pending return of her funeral party, ashore for burial of men lost when a bomb hit near her after eight-inch gun turret two days earlier during a Japanese air attack in Banka Strait. The disabled turret is visible in the center of the view, being trained to port. Credit: NAVY. |
![]() | Horses and carriages in front of funeral home of C.W. Franklin, undertaker, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Funeral obsequies of free-trade. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | The Democratic funeral of 1848. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Studies in expression. At a fashionable funeral. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
![]() | ![]() |
| "Light Pole" by Jesse Koska Commentary: "Another Nashville photo, I took it on a walk out on West End, in front of the funeral home." | "Sitting room" by Peter Skadberg Commentary: "Sitting room in funeral home HIGH RES PHOTO AVIAL UPON REQUEST. CREDIT WHEN PRACTICAL." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
| Mourning; mourn; bereavement; bereave; bereaving; mourned; death; funeral; sad; blue; down. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Francois De La Rochefoucauld | Funeral pomp is more for the vanity of the living than for the honor of the dead. |
Henry Ward Beecher | When a nation's young men are conservative, its funeral bell is already rung. |
James Russell Lowell | What men prize most is a privilege, even if it be that of chief mourner at a funeral. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | The chief mourner does not always attend the funeral. |
Walt Whitman | And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | He seemed glad to take as a text for his thoughts these funeral psalms, full of the vision of another world |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Civil Liberties | Chad | The Government did permit a peaceful women's march to accompany Selguet's funeral. (references) |
India | The attack occurred in Magam, Kashmir, while the journalists were covering a funeral procession. (references) | |
Korea | These passes were granted only for official travel or attendance at a relative's wedding or funeral. (references) | |
Economic History | Spain | A reduced rate of 7 percent is applied to the sale and imports of human or animal foodstuffs, water, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals for animal use, medical and health products, mopeds, personal dwellings, hotel and restaurant services, transportation services, agricultural services, street cleaning services, entertainment services, building and construction services, medical services and funeral services. (references) |
Human Rights | Hungary | In April police raided a funeral wake in Bag, a predominately Roma village in Pest county. (references) |
Ghana | The youths reportedly were attending a funeral for a victim of the May 9 Accra stadium incident. (references) | |
Minorities | Czech Republic | Absolon's killing was criticized widely throughout the country and his funeral attracted several hundred mourners, including government representatives. (references) |
Macedonia | On April 30 and May 1, following the funeral of four soldiers, and four policemen from Bitola who were killed in action, ethnic-Macedonian civilians burned ethnic-Albanian businesses in Bitola. (references) | |
Argentina | On May 20, the Secretary for Security for the Ministry of Interior, Dr. Enrique Mathov, was the target of anti-Semitic remarks and shouts while attending the funeral of a member of the Federal Police. (references) | |
Women | India | Sati, the practice of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands, was banned in 1829, but continued despite the ban. (references) |
Worker Rights | Mozambique | The Constitution explicitly provides for the right to strike, with the exception of civil servants, police, military personnel, and other essential services (which include sanitation, fire fighting, air traffic control, health care, water, electricity, fuel, post office, telecommunications, and funeral services). (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ADDER, n. A species of snake. So called from its habit of adding funeral outlays to the other expenses of living. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Brad Silberling | My mother came to the funeral and my parents both came to the trial. They were very respectful, because they didn't know how much we wanted them there. |
Joe Esposito | Well, I was one of the pallbearers. I got to give credit to all the guys who worked for Elvis security and all the guys around us. We really did a great job organizing this funeral because it was major event. |
Jon Stewart | I am of the mindset, I mean, look, I remember when Khomeini died and they showed the funeral procession. And I come from a long tradition of sickly people who pass away. So I've been to my share of funerals. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Benjamin Harrison | 1889-1893 | Mill fires were lighted at the funeral pile of slavery. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Funeral" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.85% of the time. "Funeral" is used about 1,830 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.85% | 1,809 | 4,674 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 0.87% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.22% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Noun (common) | 0.05% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,830 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "funeral": funeral ceremony ♦ funeral chapel ♦ funeral church ♦ funeral cockatoo ♦ funeral director ♦ funeral expenses ♦ funeral feast ♦ funeral furnishers ♦ funeral home ♦ funeral march ♦ funeral meal ♦ funeral oration ♦ funeral parlor ♦ funeral parlour ♦ funeral pile ♦ funeral procession ♦ funeral pyre ♦ funeral rite ♦ funeral rites ♦ funeral sermon ♦ Funeral Sermons [Publication Type] ♦ funeral service ♦ funeral song ♦ funeral undertaker ♦ funeral urn ♦ march in funeral procession ♦ military funeral ♦ pauper's funeral ♦ perform a funeral service ♦ state funeral ♦ that's your funeral ♦ without a funeral. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "funeral": funeral-arrangers, funeral-arranging, funeral-carriage, funeral-furnishing, funeral-march, funeral-residence. | |
Ending with "funeral": post-funeral. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
funeral home | 1,786 | funeral poetry | 81 |
funeral | 1,642 | friend funeral | 80 |
funeral flower | 481 | four wedding and a funeral | 80 |
funeral poem | 441 | funeral plan | 77 |
funeral services | 308 | funeral picture | 76 |
funeral planning | 199 | funeral home local | 74 |
funeral song | 191 | funeral gregory peck | 73 |
funeral director | 189 | funeral speech | 65 |
funeral arrangement | 180 | funeral car | 64 |
funeral sermon | 176 | jewish funeral | 59 |
dark funeral | 166 | funeral reading | 56 |
funeral casket | 132 | funeral supply | 55 |
funeral etiquette | 123 | b b black black blackmetal.com funeral marduk metal metal mist | 55 |
funeral flower arrangement | 108 | funeral service | 55 |
california funeral scattering | 106 | funeral home march | 55 |
funeral cost | 105 | funeral home search | 55 |
funeral program | 94 | bloom david funeral | 55 |
funeral music | 91 | military funeral | 55 |
funeral urn | 87 | funeral prayer | 52 |
funeral home directory | 84 | aaliyah funeral picture | 47 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "funeral"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | begrawing (burial, interment), begrafnis (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Albanian | funeral (exequies), procesion varrimi, i zymtë (black, cheerless, crepuscular, dark, depressed, dismal, dour, drab, dreary, eerie, funereal, gloomy, glum, grim, heavy, leaden, macabre, mirk, mirthless, morose, mournful, muddy, murk, sad, sepulchral, somber, sombre, spleenful, stark, sulky, sullen, surly, tenebrous, winterly, wintry), i përmortshëm (feral, funereal, mortuary), ceremoni varrimi (dead-office, obsequies). (various references) | |
Arabic | كئيب (bleak, blue, cheerless, damp, dark, dejected, depressed, depressing, depressive, desolate, disconsolate, dismal, dispirited, distressful, distressing, doleful, dolorous, down, downcast, down-hearted, drear, dreary, droopy, dyspeptic, funereal, gloomy, glum, gray, grey, grief-stricken, grieved, grievous, heavy-hearted, ill, joyless, leaden, lifeless, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, moody, mournful, out of spirits, rueful, sad, saddening, somber, sombre, spiritless, sullen, tearful, weary), مأتمي (funereal, macabre), مأتم (obsequies), عظة جنائزية, جنائزي (macabre), دفن (burial, bury, earth, entomb, inhumation, inhume, inter, interment, lay, lay to rest, put away). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | погребение (burial, entombment, inhumation, interment, obsequies, sepulture), погребално шествие, погребален (funerary, funereal, mortuary, obituary, obsequial, sepulchral). (various references) | |
Catalan | enterrament (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Chinese | 葬礼, 葬禮 (burial), 喪 (lose, mourning). (various references) | |
Czech | pohřeb (burial, sepulture). (various references) | |
Danish | begravelse. (various references) | |
Dutch | begrafenis (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Esperanto | entombigo (burial, interment), enterigo (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Finnish | hautajaiset (burial). (various references) | |
French | enterrement, obsèques (funerals). (various references) | |
Frisian | begraffenis (burial, interment), beïerdiging (burial, interment). (various references) | |
German | begräbnis (burial, entombment, interment, sepulture), bestattung (burial, interment), beisetzung (burial, interment), beerdigung (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Greek | κηδεία (burial, obsequies). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לוויה, הלויה. (various references) | |
Hungarian | temetés (burial, committal to the earth, interment, obsequies, obsequy). (various references) | |
Indonesian | penguburan (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Italian | funerale (entombment). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 葬式 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | おくり (seeing off, sending off), そうそう (attendance at a funeral, beginning, brevity, distinguished, early, eminent, facies, hurry, inauguration, quickly, rudeness), そうしき (acquaintance, direction over all, silk reeling machine, supreme command), そうれい (in the prime of manhood, magnificence, poltergeist, pompousness, splendour), こくべつしき, とぶらい (burial, condolence), とむらい (burial, condolence). (various references) | |
Korean | 장례. (various references) | |
Manx | shirveish ny merriu (funeral service), currym (appointment, assignment, benefice, business, care, custody, duty, engagement, guardianship, obligation, portfolio, post, responibility, task, trust). (various references) | |
Norwegian | begravelse (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Papiamen | entiero (burial, interment), deramento (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | uneralfay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | funeral (exequies, funereal, obsequies). (various references) | |
Romanian | funerar (feral, funerary), funeralii (exequies, obsequies), funebru (dismal, feral, funereal, gloomy, sepulchral), mormântal, de înmormântare, înmormântare (burial, inhumation, interment, laying out, obsequies, sepulture). (various references) | |
Russian | похороны (burial, exequies, obsequies). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | sahrana (burial, exequies, interment, obsequies, sepulture), pogrebni (funereal, mortuary, obituary, obsequial, obsequious), pogreb (burial, exequies, interment, obsequies). (various references) | |
Spanish | entierro (burial, entombment, interment), funeral (feral), enterramiento (burial, interment). (various references) | |
Sranan | beri (burial, bury, entomb, inter, interment). (various references) | |
Swedish | begravning (burial, committal, entombment, exequies, inhumation, interment, obsequies), jordfästning. (various references) | |
Thai | พิธีฝังศพ (obsequies). (various references) | |
Turkish | sorun (case, cause, difficulty, grievance, hangup, hurdle, ill, issue, knot, look out, packet, problem, proposition, question, trouble), problem (cause, problem, question, rub, trouble), defin (burial, interment, sepulture), cenaze törenine ait (funereal), cenaze töreni (burial, burial service, exequies, funeral rites, obsequies), cenaze. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | траурний (funereal, lugubrious, sable), похоронний (exequial, feral, funereal, mortuary, obitual, obituary, obsequial, sepulchral), похорон (burial, entombment, inhumation, obsequies). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | việc riêng, sự chôn cất đám tang, lễ tang. (various references) | |
Welsh | cynhebrwng, arwyliant (funeral rites), arwyliad (funeral rites), arwyl (funeral rites), angladdol (funereal), angladd (burial). (various references) | |
Zulu | umngcwabo (burial, interment). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | funebri, funere, funeris. (various references) |
| Medieval Latin | 700-1500 | funeralia. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "funeral": funerals. (additional references) | |
| |
"Funeral" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: feneral, fieral, Fonenau, fruneral, Funebria, funebrial, funer, funera, Funerall, funerl, Funiak, furneral, munera, uteral. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "funeral" (pronounced fyuw"nerul) |
| 4 | -n er u l | Gen, general, mineral. |
| 3 | -er u l | admiral, agricultural, architectural, behavioral, bilateral, collateral, Corporal, countercultural, cultural, doctoral, doggerel, electoral, ephemeral, federal, femoral, guttural, horticultural, humoral, inaugural, structural, supernatural, temporal, intercultural, lateral, liberal, literal, littoral, mackerel, mayoral, multicultural, multilateral, natural, neoliberal, nomenclatural, nonagricultural, numeral, pastoral, pectoral, peripheral, pickerel, postdoctoral, prefectural, procedural, scriptural, sculptural, sectoral, trilateral, unilateral, unnatural, visceral. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: flaneur, frenula. | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-f-l-n-r-u" | |
-1 letter: earful, ferula, furane, neural, unreal. | |
-2 letters: farle, feral, feuar, flare, frena, furan, learn, lunar, renal, ulnae, ulnar, ureal. | |
-3 letters: alef, earl, earn, elan, fane, fare, farl, faun, feal, fear, fern, flan, flea, flue, frae, fuel, furl, lane, leaf, lean, lear, luna, lune, lure, near, nurl, rale, real, rule, rune, ulan, ulna, urea. | |
-4 letters: ale. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-f-l-n-r-u" | |
+1 letter: flaneurs, flaunter, fraulein, funerals, funereal. | |
+2 letters: flaunters, flauntier, frauleins, gardenful, ultrafine. | |
+3 letters: artfulness, enfleurage, fluorinate, fraudulent, funereally, gardenfuls, langlaufer, painfuller, refundable, ungraceful, ungrateful. | |
+4 letters: carefulness, centrifugal, enfleurages, faultfinder, fearfulness, fluorinated, fluorinates, fortunately, fraudulence, harmfulness, langlaufers, nefariously, tearfulness, thankfuller, unclarified, unfaltering, unfavorable. | |
+5 letters: artfulnesses, centrifugals, dreadfulness, dreamfulness, faultfinders, fraudulences, fraudulently, furazolidone, gracefulness, gratefulness, insufferable, insufferably, interfaculty, interfluvial, lifeguarding, quarterfinal, requalifying, sulfonylurea, transfusable, transfusible, ultrarefined, unaffordable, unflattering, unforgivable, unformulated, ungracefully, ungratefully, unprofitable, unverifiable, wearifulness, wrathfulness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |