▪ I. sepulchre, n.
(ˈsɛpəlkə(r))
Forms: 2–7 sepulcre, 4 sepulchur, 5 scepulcur, sepulkyr, 5–6 sepulcur(e, sepulker, 6 sepulcor, sepulcar, sepulcer, sepullcre, sepullcur, (sepulchree, sepulchrie, sepulcrye), 6–9 (now U.S.) sepulcher, 3– sepulchre.
[a. OF. sepulcre (11th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. sepulcrum (less correctly sepulchrum), f. root of L. sepul-tus, pa. pple. of sepelīre to bury; cf. Sp., Pg. sepulcro, It. sepolcro.]
1. A tomb or burial-place, a building, vault, or excavation, made for the interment of a human body. Now only rhetorical or Hist.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 101 Oðer is þat bitwenen his þrowenge and his ariste he lai on his sepulcre. a 1225 Ancr. R. 170 Uor ᵹe beoð mid Iesu Criste bitund ase ine sepulcre. c 1290 Holy Rood 400 in S. Eng. Leg. 13 And þo he cam to Ierusalem of þe sepulchre he hadde doute þat ore louerd was on i-leid. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5188 Þar es þe mount of calvery, And þe sepulcre of Crist fast þarby. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 498 The sepulcre of hym Daryus Which that Appelles wroghte subtilly. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xliv. 173 (Harl. MS.) As longe as eny bone is in the sepulcure of my husbonde. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 402 The kyng gerion had brought vp that custome to make these sepulcres, for to haue remembrance of them that were vaylliant in armes. 1526 Tindale Luke xi. 47 Wo be to you that bilde the sepulcres off the prophetes: for youre fathers kiled them. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 43 Many instruments, which neuer haue playing till such time as the dead is put into the sepulcher. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxviii, Before the goulden tresses of the dead, The right of sepulchers, were shorne away To liue a second life on second head. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 321 Such as have gone on Pilgrimage to Mecca, to Mahomet's Sepulchre. a 1701 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 14 We found there a multitude of Sepulchres hewn into the Rocks. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 80 Under the choir of the church are the sepulchres of the old dukes of Bavaria. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. lxxix, The very sepulchres lie tenantless Of their heroic dwellers. 1883 R. W. Dixon Mano ii. ii. 68 There was strange darkness cast o'er every street, And all was stiller than a sepulchre. |
b. whited († painted) sepulchre: in biblical language, used
fig. for a hypocrite, or one whose fair outward semblance conceals inward corruption.
| [c 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiii. 27 Woo to ȝou scribis and Pharisees, that ben lic to sepulcris maad whijt.] 1388 Ibid. Like to sepulcris whitid. [1539 Bible (Great), painted sepulcres; 1582 N. T. (Rheims), whited sepulchres; so 1611.] c 1530 Tindale Prol. Rom. (1538) W iv b, Christ..calleth them ypocrytes, that is to saye, simulers and paynted sepulcres. 1782 V. Knox Ess. xcvii. II. 61 Those varnished qualities, which, like whited sepulchres, are but a disguise for internal deformity. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman 428 He was a sham,—a whited sepulchre. |
c. transf. and
fig.| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI ii. v. 115 My heart (sweet Boy) shall be thy Sepulcher, For from my heart, thine Image ne're shall go. 1627 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Armado C 3 b, Such beasts and birds of prey and rapine are commonly the liuing sepulchres of dead Horses. 1640 Wand. Jew telling Fortunes 38 He is a curse to Pasties; a tormenter of Poultry, a sepulchre to Lobsters. 1819 Shelley Cenci iv. i. 53, I will..make his youth The sepulchre of hope, where evil thoughts Shall grow like weeds on a neglected tomb. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. viii. (1879) 155 The whole area of the Pampas is one wide sepulchre of these extinct gigantic quadrupeds. 1881 Jowett Thucyd. I. 122 The whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men. |
2. the Holy († Saint) Sepulchre (
occas. the Sepulchre): The cave in which Jesus Christ was buried outside the walls of Jerusalem; hence, the name for the group of buildings erected over the traditional site of this cave. Also in the title of some churches in other parts of the world erected in memory of this.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 21 And was his holie lichame leid in burieles in þe holie sepulcre þat men sechen giet in ierusalem. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 17 Þis Folk fraynede him feire from whenne þat he coome? ‘From Synay’, he seide, ‘and from the Sepulcre’. 1395 E.E. Wills (1882) 9 This was yeve and writen in the lordes In of Cherlton withoute Newgate, in the parosch of seynt sepulcre in the suburbe of london. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vii. 79 The Chirche of the Sepulchre... The Chirche of Seynt Sepulchre. 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. b ij b, A knyght is made in .v. dyuerse placis In musturing in londe of werris... And at the sepulcur. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 13 As the holy Sepulcher at Ierusalem, is visited by Christians. 1825 Scott Talism. xi, Hewing with our swords the way to the Holy Sepulchre. 1898 A. H. Thompson Camb. & Its Colleges 301 Just opposite St. John's Chapel is the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Ibid. 303 St. Sepulchre's is one of those rare livings which are in the gift of the parishioners. |
b. Knight of the (Holy) Sepulchre: a member of a secular confraternity composed of those who were knighted in the crusades,
esp. those knighted at the Holy Sepulchre itself.
Since 1342 the confraternity has existed only as a religious organization, having the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem as its Grand-master.
| 1590 Segar Bk. Honor v. 59 Knights of the Sepulcher. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 235 [They] would make us Knights of the Sepulcher, so we would crave that honour. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Sepulchre, To excite Rich and Noble Persons to visit the Holy Places, by giving them the Title of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. 1873 Longfellow Wayside Inn iii. Landlord's Tale 2 It was Sir Christopher Gardiner, Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. |
3. a. Antiq. A permanent or temporary structure prepared in a church for the dramatic burial of the reserved Sacrament (sometimes also the Cross) upon Good Friday.
| 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 48 On kandel of xvj. pound of waxe to brenne about þe sepulcre in þe fornseide Chirche of seynt Nicholas. 1426–7 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 63 First payd for the sepulcre for diuers naylis & wyres & glu, ix d ob. 1566 in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 67 One sepulcre sold to Johnne orson and he hath made a presse therof to laie clothes therein. a 1627 Hayward Ann. Q. Eliz. (Camden) 28 And not onely images, but rood-loftes, relickes, sepulchres, bookes [etc.]..wer..committed to the fire. 1739 Blomfield Norf. (1805) II. 217 These sepulchres were erected alwayes (as I take it) on the north side of the chancel, near to the altar. 1791 J. Townsend Journ. Spain (1792) III. 239 [At Valencia] In the sacristy, I saw a massive sepulchre of silver gilt, designed for the reception of the host on good Friday. 1836 Parker Gloss. Archit. (1850) I. 421 At Bampton, Oxfordshire, is a singular example..of a kind of double sepulchre, one over the other. |
b. (See
quot. 1753.)
| 1753 Challoner Cath. Chr. Instr. 220 The Place where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the Church in order for the Office of Good-Friday (on which Day there is no Consecration) is by the People called the Sepulchre, as representing by Anticipation the Burial of Christ. a 1800 Waterperry Chapel Reg. in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. VII. 393 On Maundy Thursday Prayers in y⊇ morning at 10 a clock after which y⊇ Bd Sacrament is put into y⊇ Sepulchre & y⊇ Congregation, & Family wattch 2 by 2 till 10 a clock at night. 1853 Dale tr. Baldeschi's Ceremonial 187 A chapel of the sepulchre should be prepared. 1884 Cath. Dict. (1897) 445/2. |
4. Interment, burial.
rare.
| 1388 Wyclif Gen. xxiii. 4 Ȝyue ȝe to me riȝto of sepulcre [Vulg. jus sepulcri] with ȝou. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 262 His incensement at this moment is so implacable, that satisfaction can be none, but by pangs of death and sepulchre. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey). 1871 G. H. Napheys Prevent. & Cure Dis. i. xi. 331 Modes of sepulchre which have prevailed. |
† 5. App. some article of personal jewellery.
| 1567 Sir N. Throckmorton Let. to Leicester 30 Apr. (MS. Magdalene Coll.), I did remember you by Mr. Dier for sending your sepulchre as you told me by the way. Since your messenger had no better fortune in safe-carrying your token..he has left no devices undone to recover your diamond. 1567 ― Let. to Leicester 10 May, Retain your adamant sepulchre until you have the condition better annexed. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. as
† sepulchre-door;
† (in sense 3)
sepulchre-cloth,
sepulchre-light,
sepulchre-nails;
† sepulchre-stone (?
cf. sense 5);
† sepulchre-table, a sepulchral tablet;
† sepulchre-tree, ? the beam or frame upon which the Easter sepulchre was placed.
| 1566 in Fowler Hist. C.C.C. (O.H.S.) 114 Item, a *sepulchre clothe of red and blewe braunched with golde. |
| c 1275 Passion our Lord 513 in O.E. Misc. 51 He hwelfde at þare *sepulchre-dure enne grete ston. |
| 1505 Cat. Anc. Deeds P.R.O. (1906) V. 492 The *sepulcur lyghte in the seyd chyrche. 1546 in Throsby Hist. & Antiq. Leicester (1791) 246 Solde to Ryc{supd}. Raynford the sepulchre light. |
| 1494–5 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 214 Item, for the *sepulker nailes ob. |
| 1489 Will of Sandon (Somerset Ho.), Lego ecclesie unum Agnus dei aureum cum lapide vulgariter dictum *Sepulcre stone. |
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 236 [An inscription] in a grave or *Sepulcher-table [L. in sepulchrali tabula], betweene two little images. |
| 1449 Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 90 For makyng of the *sepulkyr tre, xx{supd}. |
▪ II. sepulchre, v. (
ˈsɛpəlkə(r))
[f. sepulchre n. Formerly also stressed
seˈpulchre.]
1. trans. To place in a sepulchre; to bury.
| 16.. Rowley Birth Merlin v. i. (1662) G 3, A place..Where Merlins Mother shall be sepulcher'd. 1649 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wand. West 5 It is very probable that King Arthur (our English Worthy) was there sepulchred. 1791 Cowper Iliad xxiii. 103 My bones sepulchre not from thine apart. 1896 Dublin Rev. July 123 Had everyone been allowed..to sepulchre their dead in the churches, there would very soon have been no space left. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. ii. 118 Goe to thy Ladies graue and call hers [sc. her love] thence, Or at the least, in hers, sepulcher thine. 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. lxiv, Where merit is not sepulcher'd aliue. 1796 Southey Lett. fr. Spain (1799) 221 He may as well be buried in the Monastery as sepulchre himself in his chamber. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh v. 1040 We are sepulchred alive in this close world. |
2. To receive as in a sepulchre, to serve as a burial-place for.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 134 If thou should'st not be glad, I would diuorce me from thy Mother Tombe, Sepulchring an Adultresse. 1634 Massinger Very Woman ii. ii, That which was mortal of My dear Martino..I know this mother earth hath sepulchred. 1813 Byron Corsair i. i, When Ocean shrouds and sepulchres our dead. 1863 I. Williams Baptistery ii. Image, xxii, Stillness and subterranean shade Her saints doth sepulchre. 1897 F. Thompson New Poems 187 O to that tomb be tender then, which bears Only the name of him it sepulchres! |