▪ I. funeral, a. and n.
(ˈfjuːnərəl)
Forms: 5–7 funerall, (5 fynerall, 6 funyralle), 4– funeral. pl. 5–7 funeralles, (5 funerales, funeralx, fyneralles, 6 funirals), 6– 7 funeral(l)s.
[The adj. is a. OF. funeral, ad. med.L. fūnerāl-is, f. fūner-, fūnus, funeral, death, dead body. The n. is ad. OF. funeraille (1406 Hatz.-Darm.), collect. fem. sing., ad. med.L. fūnerālia, neut. pl. of the adj. Like many other OF. ns. in -aille of similar derivation, the word was used in the pl. with the same sense as in the sing. (mod.F. has only the pl. funérailles); this usage was originally followed in English, and continued until the end of the 17th c.]
A. adj.
1. Of or pertaining to the ceremonial burial (or cremation) of the dead; used, observed, delivered, etc. at a burial. Now usually apprehended as an attributive use of the n. Cf. B. 6.
funeral-ale (? nonce-wd.) = arval. funeral column (see quot. 1862). funeral-house: (a) the house from which a funeral has started; (b) a mortuary. funeral pall: the pall used to cover the coffin, also fig. funeral pile, funeral pyre: the pile of wood and other combustibles on which a dead body is burned. † funeral pot = funeral urn. † funeral ring: a ring given at or in remembrance of a funeral; a mourning ring. funeral-toll: the tolling of a bell at a funeral. funeral urn: the urn in which the ashes were placed after cremation.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2006 He wolde make a fyr, in which thoffice Funeral he mighte al accomplice. 1439 E.E. Wills (1882) 115 My byryng..& expenses funeralx. 1529 More Supplic. Soulys Wks. 328/1 There wer in the funeral seruice at the burying of the corps, the selfe same psalmes songen. 1548 Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Mark v. 38–9 The syngyng men that synge vayne funerall songes vnto the deade bodie. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 315 [The people] came..to touch the Funerall-pot of his ashes. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 84 Is it not lawfull for him to take monie in his cure for preaching funerall sermons? 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 117 My sighing brest, shall be thy Funerall bell. 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. D vj b, My Swans last funerall dirgee to the king. 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 4 Funerall griefe loathes words. 1629 J. Cole Of Death 164 After any buriall, the neerest friends returne to the Funerall house. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. I. (vol. II.) 76 You have had the pleasure to heare your owne Funerall Oration. 1648 Bury Wills (Camden) 211 That noe funerall pompe be bestowed at my buriall. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. Bp. Ded., The Funeral Pyre was out and the last Valediction over. 1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1789/4 All Persons who shall have occasion for Funeral Rings for time to come. a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. lii. 423 The Fuel of the Funeral and bustuary Fire. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. i, The flattery of a funeral sermon. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 315 They were equal as to fame and funeral honours. a 1771 Gray Desc. Odin 70 Hoder's corse..Flaming on the fun'ral pile. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vi, She repaired first to the convent to attend the funeral service. 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 191 The funeral-toll, announces solemnly The service of the tomb. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 339 After payment of my just debts and funeral expences. 1827 Pollok Course T. ix. 1180 Thousands that sleep Forgotten beneath the funeral pall of Time. 1838 Thirlwall Greece III. 131 The praises of Athens were the main topic of every funeral harangue. 1850 Ecclesiologist X. 339 Vague terms as Burial-House, or Rest-House, or Funeral-House, will never come into vogue. 1854 C. F. Alexander Burial of Moses v. Poems (1896) 84 But when the warrior dieth, His comrades in the war, With arms reversed and muffled drum, Follow his funeral car. 1862 Dict. Arch. (Arch. Publ. Soc.), Funeral column, the name applied by some writers to a pillar raised instead of a cenotaph; or over a place of sepulture. 1875 Edin. Rev. July CXLII. 208 It is far more likely..that the vow was made at his [Harold Harfagr's] father's funeral-ale. |
2. = funereal.
| 1651 Jer. Taylor Holy Dying iii. §6 To converse with his friends and standers by so as may do them comfort, and ease their funeral and civil complaints. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 226 Many of the Religious Rites and Solemnities, observed by the Pagan Priests, were Mournful and Funeral. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. III. 8 Aug., The firs..look dull and funeral. 1814 Byron Corsair ii. xvi, O'er which the raven flaps her funeral wing. |
B. n. 1. The ceremonies connected with the burial (or cremation, etc.) of the body of a dead person; obsequies; a burial (or its equivalent) with the attendant observances.
| a 1512 Fabyan Will in Chron. Pref. 6, I will that after my funerall..that .xii. of the foresaid torches be bestowed as after foloweth. 1526 Pilgr. Pref. (W. de W. 1531) 257 b, At complyn where shold be remembred the funerall or buryall of that most holy corps. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 233 Do not consent That Antony speake in his Funerall. 1667 Evelyn Diary 3 Aug., Went to Mr. Cowley's funeral, whose corpse..was conveyed to Westminster Abbey in a hearse with six horses. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 416 ¶2 Melancholy Scenes and Apprehensions of Deaths and Funerals. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho ii, On his return from the funeral, St. Aubert shut himself in his chamber. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 300 Funerals in the country are solemnly impressive. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy-bk. Prop. Law xxi. 168 You must be careful in your expenditure on the funeral. |
| fig. 1885 Tennyson To Princess Beatrice, The Mother weeps At that white funeral of the single life, Her maiden daughter's marriage. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 29 Aug. 5/2 Next election would see the funeral of party government. |
† b. pl. with
sing. sense.
Obs.| 1543 Grafton Contn. Harding 475 The duke of Gloucestre kepte the kyng his brothers funeralles. a 1553 Udall Royster D. (Arb.) 88 Some parte of his funeralls let vs here beginne. 1645 Quarles Sol. Recant. xii. 58 Mourners come to meet Thy tear-bedabled fun'rals in the Street. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 280 On the 5 of Sept. following his Funerals were solemnized. 1711 Ld. Molesworth tr. F. Hotman's Franco-Gallia (1721) 22 Lewis..celebrated his Funerals. |
| fig. 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) 23, I..drinke to the funerals of your Enimitie. 1684 Scanderbeg Rediv. iii. 45 Behold, I say, the time which is the Funerals of my Glory. |
c. none of your (our, etc.) funeral: no affair of yours (ours, etc.), nothing to do with you (us, etc.);
your (etc.) funeral: your (etc.) affair or concern (often with an implication of unpleasant consequences).
orig. U.S. slang.| 1854 Oregon Weekly Times 25 Nov. (Th.), A boy said to an outsider who was making a great ado during some impressive mortuary ceremonies, ‘What are you crying about? it's none of your funeral.’ 1867 Trans Ill. Agric. Soc. VI. 167 As this was ‘none of our funeral’, of course the party of the other part was provided with all the regalia of the occasion. 1870 Congress. Globe 12 Apr. 2780/3 Mr. Painter then addressing you said, ‘This is not my funeral.’ 1877 Hartford Times 17 Oct. (Farmer), Oh, that isn't my funeral, I want you to understand. 1895 Century Mag. Sept. 674/1 We don't know for certain it was them, and it's none of our funeral, anyhow. 1908 S. E. White Riverman vii. 60 However, it's your funeral. Come on, if you want to. 1917 S. Graham Priest of Ideal i, But although we go into black it is not our funeral. 1921 A. S. M. Hutchinson If Winter Comes iv. i. 254 However his wife was his funeral, not mine, and I said nothing. 1930 Sayers & ‘Eustace’ Documents in Case 72 But how he can ever imagine that it will sell... But that's his funeral. 1948 Sat. Even. Post 26 June 82/4, I assured LaGuardia that it was ‘his funeral, and not mine’. 1952 G. W. Brace Spire (1953) xii. 114, I refuse to involve myself. It is your problem and your funeral. |
† 2. pl. The expenses attending a funeral.
Obs.| 1496 Will of Cely (Somerset Ho.), After that my funerales and dethe be paied. 1590 Swinburne Testaments 104 The lawe of this lande..leaueth all the residue to the disposition of the testator, funeralles and debts deducted. a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law (1635) 71 If the Executor or Administrator pay debts, or funeralls, or Legacies of his owne money. |
3. sing. and pl. A funeral sermon; a funeral service. Now only
U.S.| 1641 Trapp Theol. Theol. 193 The fiend..preacht Sauls funerall, as one calls it. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. iii. §2 In the absence of Doctor Humfreys designed for that service, Mr. Giles Laurence preached his Funeralls. a 1661 ― Worthies, Hereford (1662) 41, I could learn little from the Minister which preached his funeral. 1853 in N. E. Eliason Tarheel Talk (1956) 273 Was her funerald preached at the burying, if not, I would like to know when it will be. 1871 Schele de Vere Americanisms (1872) 238 This led to the custom, still prevailing in densely-settled districts, and especially among the freed⁓men of the South, to have funerals, i.e. special funeral sermons preached some time after the death of the person. 1905 N.Y. Even. Post. 9 Mar. 8 An official funeral will be held in the Senate chamber to-morrow at two o'clock, and the body will be taken to Tennessee to-morrow evening. 1922 M. B. Houston Witch Man xi. 131 The cemetery to which Wilda had fared as much as twice for many of the graves within it, first when the sleeper was laid there and later—sometimes there was the lapse of a year—when his funeral was preached. |
| fig. 1621 Crt. & Times Jas. I (1849) II. 245, I send you here the funerals of the Bohemian affairs, if that be true which the enclosed reporteth. |
4. A burial procession.
| a 1745 Swift Direct. Servants, Chambermaid Wks. 1824 XI. 443 You are sometimes desirous to see a funeral..As they pass by in the street [etc.]. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms ii. 103 A city bell Wailed for a funeral passing to the tomb. 1824–9 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. l. 320 There is no funeral so sad to follow as the funeral of our own youth. 1877 Bryant Poems, Among the Trees 45 The funeral goes forth; a silent train Moves slowly from the desolate home. |
5. In various indefinite applications:
a. death;
b. grave;
c. monument.
| 1575 R. B. Appius & Virginia in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 149 Which hast the seed of thine own loin thrust forth to funeral! 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. v. 25 Him deeming dead..[he] Fledd fast away to tell his funerall Unto his brother. 1591 ― Ruins of Rome 37 Rome now of Rome is th' onely funerall. 1608 Shakes. Per. ii. iv. 32 He lives to govern us, Or dead, give's cause to mourn his funeral. 1668 Denham Pass. Dido 199 May he..find his funeral I' th' Sands, when he before his day shall fall. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 316 Those Funerals which come by gentle and leisurely decays. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
funeral-biscuit,
funeral-boat,
funeral-cake,
funeral-cup,
funeral director (
orig. U.S.),
funeral home (
orig. U.S.),
funeral parlour (
orig. U.S.),
funeral-party,
funeral undertaker.
| 1882 McQueen in Macm. Mag. XLVI. 163, I have already referred to what was called the ‘*funeral biscuit’. 1884 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 329 ‘Funeral biscuits’ are baked expressly for those who visit the house on the day of interment. |
| 1843 S. C. Hall Ireland III. 187 And all in that *funeral-boat repeated ‘why—why— why’. |
| 1884 Chesh. Gloss., *Funeral-cakes, long, narrow, sponge cakes used at funerals. |
| Ibid., *Funeral cups, drinking vessels used at funerals. |
| 1886 J. A. Porter New Stand. Guide Washington 178 General Furnishing Undertaker and *Funeral Director. 1963 New Statesman 12 Apr. 516/3 ‘The reason why we have changed the name,’ said Peter Beaty, secretary of the National Association of Funeral Directors, ‘is for the services rendered.’ 1964 English Studies XLV. (Suppl.) 23 Britain's 4,400 undertakers, or funeral directors, as they prefer to call themselves. 1936 Mencken Amer. Lang. (ed. 4) vi. 287 When it [sc. the mortician's business] is achieved the patient is put into a casket and stored in the reposing room or slumber-room of a *funeral-home. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 53/5 (Advt.), Hallowell Funeral Home. 1927 Sat. Even. Post 12 Mar. 6/3 Rows of wooden folding chairs, often rented from *funeral parlors. 1938 Auden & Isherwood On Frontier i. i. 24 Our doctors will see to your health, and our funeral parlours will bury you. 1963 J. Mitford Amer. Way Death i. 29 The nomenclature has gradually changed. From ‘undertaker’ tout court to ‘funeral parlor’ to ‘funeral home’ to ‘chapel’ has been the linguistic progression. |
| 1832 E. Ind. Sketch Bk. II. 124, I watched the *funeral-party as they stood..in all the pride of their military array. |
| 1707 Earl of Bindon in Lond. Gaz. No. 4339/3 Divers Abuses..have been committed..by Painters, *Funeral-Undertakers. |
▸
funeral plan n. Insurance a scheme for making regular contributions towards the payment for one's own funeral.
| 1929 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 16 Aug. 1/4 The Metropolitan *Funeral Plan Inc. of Omaha are under investigation by state authorities. 1936 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 19 June 6/3 (advt.) Ask us, too, about our pre-arranged funeral plan. 2004 M. V. Goudge Choosing Care Home ii.19 They may have contributed to a funeral plan, in which the funeral is wholly or partly paid for. |
▪ II. † funeral, v. Obs.—1 [f. prec. n.] trans. To bury. Also (? nonce-use),
to funeral it: to mourn for the dead.
| 1595 Hunnis Joseph 76 The purchase of the field and caue; and all that therein stood Of Heth his children purchast was, to funerall the good. 1641 R. Harris Abners Funerall 1 'Tis an hard thing to Funerall it well..God..helps us here by David. He has the art of mourning. |