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.
There was also a third Cambodian film shown at the festival, this one a documentary short called Royal Cortege, also by Sihanouk.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Cortege Burlesque they successfully executed a fond parody of the pyrotechnical pas de deux typical of classic ballet, and in The Maids they projected murderous resentment and febrile neuroticism.
From Time Magazine Archive
From the very first page, the Variations II. and III. are true gems; and not less the other numbers continuously, up to the grotesque Fugue and the "Cortege" which crown the whole work gloriously.
From Letters of Franz Liszt -- Volume 2 from Rome to the End by Bache, Constance
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.
