funeral

English Online Dictionary. What means funeral‎? What does funeral mean?

English

Alternative forms

• funerall (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French funerailles pl (“funeral rites”), from Medieval Latin fūnerālia (“funeral rites”), originally neuter plural of Late Latin fūnerālis (“having to do with a funeral”), from Latin fūnus (“funeral, death, corpse”), origin unknown, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“to die”). Singular and plural used interchangeably in English until circa 1700. The adjective funereal is first attested 1725, by influence of Middle French funerail, from Latin funereus, from funus. First attested in 1437.

Displaced native Old English līcþeġnung (literally “dead body service”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfjuːnəɹəl/, /ˈfjuːnɹəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfjunəɹəl/
• Rhymes: -uːnəɹəl, -uːnɹəl
• Hyphenation: fu‧ne‧ral, fun‧eral

Noun

funeral (plural funerals)

2. A ceremony to honor and remember a deceased person, often distinguished from a memorial service by the presence of the body of the deceased.
3. (dated, chiefly in the plural) A funeral sermon.

Derived terms

Related terms

• funerary
• funereal

Translations

Adjective

funeral (not generally comparable, comparative more funeral, superlative most funeral)

1. (uncommon) Alternative spelling of funereal

See also

• celebration of life
• cemetery
• mortuary
• obsequy, obsequies

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “funeral”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “funeral”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• -flurane, earnful, flaneur, flurane, flâneur, frenula, unflare

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fūnerālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fu.nəˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fu.neˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: fu‧ne‧ral

Adjective

funeral m or f (masculine and feminine plural funerals)

1. funerary, funeral

   Synonyms: funerari, fúnebre

Noun

funeral m (plural funerals)

1. (often in the plural) funeral (ceremony)

Related terms

• fúnebre
• funerari
• funest

References

• “funeral” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “funeral” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /funeˈɾal/ [fu.neˈɾɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: fu‧ne‧ral

Noun

funeral m (plural funerais)

1. funeral (ceremony to honour and bury a deceased person)

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fyneˈral/

Noun

funeral m

1. funeral

Related terms

• funerari

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin fūnerālis, from Latin funus.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portigal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: fu‧ne‧ral

Noun

funeral m (plural funerais)

1. funeral (ceremony to honour and bury a deceased person)

Usage notes

In Portuguese, it is more common to refer to the wake (velório) than to the funeral.

Adjective

funeral m or f (plural funerais)

1. funeral; funerary (relating to a funeral)

   Synonyms: fúnebre, funerário

2. (literary) funeral; gloomy; dreary

   Synonyms: fúnebre, funesto, lúgubre

Related terms

• fúnebre
• funerária
• funerário
• funéreo
• funesto

See also

• velório
• enterro
• sepultamento

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin fūnerālis, from Latin funus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /funeˈɾal/ [fu.neˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fu‧ne‧ral

Adjective

funeral m or f (masculine and feminine plural funerales)

1. funerary, funeral

   Synonyms: funerario, fúnebre

Noun

funeral m (plural funerales)

1. funeral (ceremony)

Related terms

Further reading

• “funeral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10