cortege
Americannoun
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a procession, especially a ceremonial one.
a funeral cortege.
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a line or train of attendants; retinue.
noun
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a formal procession, esp a funeral procession
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a train of attendants; retinue
Etymology
Origin of cortege
1670–80; < French < Italian corteggio courtly retinue, derivative of corteggiare to court, itself derivative of corte court
Explanation
A group of people following solemnly behind, whether they're a celebrity's handlers or a funeral procession, is a cortege. A movie star may have a cortege of hair stylists, assistants, and agents—you can also call this an entourage or a retinue. A funeral procession, the group of mourners that walks or rides in cars to a cemetery, is another kind of cortege. The French source, cortège, means "train of attendants," from the Italian corte, "court," and the Latin root cohors, "retinue."
Vocabulary lists containing cortege
"The Iliad" by Homer, Book 1
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The Odyssey
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The Stranger
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hundreds of mourners followed the cortege from Ms Doherty's parents' home to Holy Family chapel in Ballymagroarty.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
Hundreds of fans gathered outside the cathedral and applauded as the cortege arrived, preceded by a guard of scooter riders as The Stone Roses track I Wanna Be Adored played on speakers.
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025
Not respecting a cortege, especially those involving a horses, is also a safety issue, it added.
From BBC • Oct. 27, 2025
Osbourne's widow Sharon and children Aimee, Jack and Kelly visited floral tributes laid at Black Sabbath bridge following his death on 22 July in a cortege that weaved through the streets of his home city.
From BBC • Sep. 27, 2025
They formed an honor cortege that wound its way across the Jungfern Bridge and through the pine forest to the New Johannes cemetery.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
