cortege

or cor·tège

[ kawr-tezh, -teyzh ]

noun

1. a procession, especially a ceremonial one:

   a funeral cortege.

2. a line or train of attendants; retinue.

cortege

/ kɔːˈteɪʒ /

noun

1. a formal procession, esp a funeral procession
2. a train of attendants; retinue

Word History and Origins

Origin of cortege¹

1670–80; < French < Italian corteggio courtly retinue, derivative of corteggiare to court, itself derivative of corte court

Word History and Origins

Origin of cortege¹

C17: from French, from Italian corteggio, from corteggiare to attend, from corte court

Example Sentences

He described a steady stream of funeral corteges on the Long Island Expressway.

From ProPublica

One of his most traumatic moments as a child, Harry said, was when he followed his mother’s horse-drawn casket in a public funeral cortege at age 12, passing by throngs of onlookers, many of them openly sobbing — and staring at him.

From Washington Post

A policeman stopped traffic on Palmetto for the cortege and second line to pass, and in a better street, people broke out dancing.

From The Daily Beast

He said they planned to turn their backs on the funeral cortege as it passed them.

From The Daily Beast

The funeral cortege will be made up of over 700 troops, drawn from regiments closely associated with the Falklands War.

From The Daily Beast

Protestors have said they will line the route of the funeral cortege and turn their backs on the coffin as it passes.

From The Daily Beast

Then followed violence; stones were hurled and blows rained upon the members of the cortege.

From Project Gutenberg

As the funeral cortege moved along, the chorus of mockery and insult was raised on all sides.

From Project Gutenberg

Retinue, ret′i-nū, n. the body of retainers who follow a person of rank: a suite: a cortege.

From Project Gutenberg

These civilities, and others, were properly responded to, and presently the cortege was in motion.

From Project Gutenberg

The cortege was of great length, and splendid in its appointments.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• caravan