obsequy

American  

[ob-si-kwee] / ˈɒb sɪ kwi /

noun

• obsequies
  plural

1. a funeral rite or ceremony.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• obsequies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of obsequy

1350–1400; Middle English obseque < Middle French < Late Latin obsequiae, alteration (by confusion with exsequiae funeral rites) of obsequia, plural of Latin obsequium; see obsequious

Explanation

Obsequies are the traditional ceremonies that happen at a funeral. Your great-grandmother's obsequies may include prayers, poetry readings, and songs sung by the mourners. This word is most often used in its plural form, obsequies, to mean "funeral rites." All the traditions associated with a person's death, funeral, or burial, as well as any rituals of mourning, can be described as obsequies. Sometimes these are religious, like singing particular hymns or reciting specific prayers, while others are more personal. The Latin source of obsequy is obsequium, "dutiful compliance," influenced by exsequiae, "funeral rites."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

obsequy obsequies

"Whether derided or praised," the historian Robert Rotberg has written, "he remains an object of calumny, obsequy and inquiry."

From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2015

Dye Apguylamys," who is told to prepare the obsequy for Love, and of "Lady Apylton," who had offered a "mass-penny," and the epitaph ends with these stanzas: "Now, Love, Love!

From Notes and Queries, Number 08, December 22, 1849 by Various

From this session interdict Every fowl of tyrant wing, Save the eagle, feather'd king: Keep the obsequy so strict.

From The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare

Live all and love together, and thereby You give your father a rich obsequy.

From Sir Thomas More by Shakespeare (spurious and doubtful works)

If a tear escape her eye 'Tis not for my memory But thy rights of obsequy.

From The Mad Lover The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher (3 of 10) by Francis Beaumont

I don’t want to add here to the emotional obsequies being written for the Washington Post, after its latest round of contraction last week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

The diplomatic focus will be on the part of St Peter's Square where presidents and prime ministers, princes and monarchs will sit waiting for the obsequies to begin.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025

That knowledge sits uncomfortably with what has come before, not because the leaden language of the scripted obsequies is persuasive, but because the grieving citizens are so real.

From New York Times ● May 6, 2021

Collective memory cannot be battered into adoring someone by official obsequies.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 10, 2013

He resolved to celebrate his own obsequies before his death.

From The Last Words of Distinguished Men and Women (Real and Traditional) by Frederic Rowland Marvin