cenotaph

[ sen-uh-taf, -tahf ]

/ ˈsɛn əˌtæf, -ˌtɑf /

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noun

a sepulchral monument erected in memory of a deceased person whose body is buried elsewhere.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of cenotaph

1595–1605; <Latin cenotaphium<Greek kenotáphion, equivalent to kenó(s) empty + -taphion (táph(os) tomb + -ion diminutive suffix)

OTHER WORDS FROM cenotaph

cen·o·taph·ic

[sen-uh-taf-ik], /ˌsɛn əˈtæf ɪk/, adjective

Words nearby cenotaph

cenizo, ceno-, cenobite, cenogenesis, cenospecies, cenotaph, cenote, Cenozoic, cense, censer, censor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cenotaph in a sentence

Others think it may be a cenotaph, built to house Alexander himself but then left empty after Ptolemy made off with his body.
Is This Alexander the Great’s Tomb?|James Romm|September 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Walking in the rain toward the cenotaph, I observed that about every other person wore a red paper poppy in the lapel.
Lessons from Another War|Christopher Buckley|November 12, 2009|DAILY BEAST
One of the figures guarding the Maximilian cenotaph wears a precisely similar hauberk.
Armour in England|J. Starkie Gardner
And this self-denying ordinance speaks more for James Moore's love of his lost wife than many a lordly cenotaph.
Bob, Son of Battle|Alfred Ollivant

This end might be attained by erecting a cenotaph in his honour in every churchyard and cemetery in England.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 150, February 2, 1916|Various
There were celebrations in the streets of London and a vast crowd visited the cenotaph and sang Rule Britannia.
Greener Than You Think|Ward Moore
It is an ingenious and brilliant addition to the public part of the tomb, to the cenotaph.
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. II (of 2)|Georges Perrot

British Dictionary definitions for cenotaph (1 of 2)

cenotaph

/ (ˈsɛnəˌtɑːf) /

noun

a monument honouring a dead person or persons buried elsewhere

Derived forms of cenotaph

cenotaphic, adjective

Word Origin for cenotaph

C17: from Latin cenotaphium, from Greek kenotaphion, from kenos empty + taphos tomb

British Dictionary definitions for cenotaph (2 of 2)

Cenotaph

/ (ˈsɛnəˌtɑːf) /

noun

the Cenotaph the monument in Whitehall, London, honouring the dead of both World Wars: designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens: erected in 1920

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cenotaph

Origin of cenotaph

OTHER WORDS FROM cenotaph

Words nearby cenotaph

Words related to cenotaph

How to use cenotaph in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cenotaph (1 of 2)

Derived forms of cenotaph

Word Origin for cenotaph

British Dictionary definitions for cenotaph (2 of 2)