funeral

[fyoo-ner-uhl]

noun

1. the ceremonies for a dead person prior to burial or cremation; obsequies.

2. a funeral procession.

adjective

1. of or relating to a funeral.

   funeral services; funeral expenses.

funeral

/ ˈfjuːnərəl /

noun

1. 1. a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated

   2. ( as modifier )

      a funeral service

2. a procession of people escorting a corpse to burial

3. informal,  worry; concern; affair

   that's your funeral

Other Word Forms

• prefuneral adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of funeral¹

1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Medieval Latin fūnerālis, equivalent to Latin fūner-, stem of fūnus funeral rites + -ālis -al ¹; (noun), from early 16th cent., probably < Middle French funerailles < Medieval Latin fūnerālia, neuter plural of fūnerālis

Word History and Origins

Origin of funeral¹

C14: from Medieval Latin fūnerālia , from Late Latin fūnerālis (adj), from Latin fūnus funeral

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. be someone's funeral, to have unpleasant consequences for someone.

   If you don't finish the work on time, it will be your funeral!

see it's your funeral.

Example Sentences

Mourners filed into a church in Orange for Odeh’s funeral, quietly discussing whether attacks would continue, and how they could protect the community, Shehadeh recalled.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Keep a box of tissues close by: I was a blubbering mess two minutes in, when Hanks follows Murray’s cold open with one of the eulogies from Candy’s funeral.

Read more on Salon

Instead his appearances are limited to private, family events, such as funerals or memorials.

Read more on BBC

Would we be able to have a funeral?

Read more on BBC

At her husband’s funeral last month, she demonstrated preternatural poise addressing a stadium-sized crowd, extolling a traditional view of marriage in which he was the family’s spiritual leader while she maintained the home.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• burial 
• cremation