funeral

/ˈfjunərəl/

/ˈfjunərəl/

Other forms: funerals

A funeral is a ceremony to bury or cremate the dead. If you go to a funeral, wear black and try not to seem like you're having fun.

Funeral comes from the Latin root fūnus, for "dead body," and so a funeral is the ritual that surrounds taking care of a dead body. Depending on the dead person's beliefs, there will often be a representative of a religion there to honor them in a traditional way. Sometimes we use funeral for dead things other than dead people. If you just gave a really bad party, you could call it a funeral for your social life.

Definitions of funeral

1. noun

   a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated
   “hundreds of people attended his funeral”

   types:

   burial, entombment, inhumation, interment, sepulture

   the ritual placing of a corpse in a grave

   sky burial

   a traditional Tibetan funeral ritual in which the corpse is exposed to the open air to be eaten by sacred vultures

   type of:

   ceremonial, ceremonial occasion, ceremony, observance

   a formal event performed on a special occasion