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Funeral - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Funeral : (noun)
1: a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated;
"hundreds of people attended his funeral"
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Funeral : \Fu"ner*al\, a. [LL. funeralis. See Funeral, n.]
Per. taining to a funeral; used at the interment of the dead;
as, funeral rites, honors, or ceremonies. --Shak.
Funeral pile, a structure of combustible material, upon
which a dead body is placed to be reduced to ashes, as
part of a funeral rite; a pyre. -- Fu"ner*al*ly, adv.
[Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Funeral : \Fu"ner*al\, n. [LL. funeralia, prop. neut. pl. of
funeralis of a funeral, fr. L. funus, funeris, funeral: cf.
F. fun['e]railles.]
1. The solemn rites used in the disposition of a dead human
body, whether such disposition be by interment, burning,
or otherwise; esp., the ceremony or solemnization of
interment; obsequies; burial; -- formerly used in the
plural.
King James his funerals were performed very solemnly
in the collegiate church at Westminster. --Euller.
2. The procession attending the burial of the dead; the show
and accompaniments of an interment. ``The long funerals.''
--Pope.
3. A funeral sermon; -- usually in the plural. [Obs.]
Mr. Giles Lawrence preached his funerals. --South.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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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).
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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