sarcophagus

[ sahr-kof-uh-guh s ]

/ sɑrˈkɒf ə gəs /

noun, plural sar·coph·a·gi [sahr-kof-uh-jahy] /sɑrˈkɒf əˌdʒaɪ/, sar·coph·a·gus·es.

a stone coffin, especially one bearing sculpture, inscriptions, etc., often displayed as a monument.

Greek Antiquity. a kind of stone thought to consume the flesh of corpses, used for coffins.

Nearby words

Origin of sarcophagus

1595–1605; < Latin < Greek sarkophágos, noun use of the adj.; see sarcophagous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sarcophagi

The principal use of sculpture by the early Christians was for the decoration of the sarcophagi, or burial-cases.
A History of Art for Beginners and Students|Clara Erskine Clement
The Greco-Roman style is represented by two sarcophagi which represent the story of Hippolytus.
Constantinople|William Holden Hutton
The sarcophagi are designedly much too small; there is hardly room for the figures on them.
Michelangelo|Romain Rolland
Among the sculptures two or three, sarcophagi may be specially noted.
The Shores of the Adriatic|F. Hamilton Jackson

Some of the most interesting examples of early Ionic painting are found on the sarcophagi of Clazomenae.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4|Various

British Dictionary definitions for sarcophagi

sarcophagus

/ (sɑːˈkɒfəɡəs) /

noun plural -gi (-ˌɡaɪ) or -guses

a stone or marble coffin or tomb, esp one bearing sculpture or inscriptions

Word Origin for sarcophagus

C17: via Latin from Greek sarkophagos flesh-devouring; from the type of stone used, which was believed to destroy the flesh of corpses

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sarcophagi

sarcophagi

plural of sarcophagus (q.v.).

sarcophagus

c.1600, "type of stone used for coffins," from Latin sarcophagus, from Greek sarkophagos "limestone used for coffins," literally "flesh-eating," in reference to the supposed action of this type of limestone (quarried near Assos in Troas, hence the Latin lapis Assius) in quickly decomposing the body, from sarx (genitive sarkos) "flesh" (see sarcasm) + phagein "to eat" (see -phagous). Related: Sarcophagal.

The "stone" sense was the earliest in English; meaning "stone coffin, often with inscriptions or decorative carvings" is recorded from 1705. The Latin word, shortened in Vulgar Latin to *sarcus, is the source of French cercueil, German Sarg "coffin," Dutch zerk "tombstone."

sarcophagus

noun, plural sar·coph·a·gi [sahr-kof-uh-jahy] /sɑrˈkɒf əˌdʒaɪ/, sar·coph·a·gus·es.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of sarcophagus

Examples from the Web for sarcophagi

sarcophagus

noun plural -gi (-ˌɡaɪ) or -guses

Word Origin for sarcophagus

sarcophagi

sarcophagus