Etymograph

English

funeral

Funeral is borrowed from Middle French funerailles, from Medieval Latin fūnerālia, from Late Latin fūnerālis, from Latin fūnus ‘funeral’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfūnus‘funeral, death’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfūnerālis‘of a funeral’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500fūnerālia‘funeral rites’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600funerailles‘funeral rites’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1661funeral

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfūnus‘funeral, death’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfūnerālis‘of a funeral’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500fūnerālia‘funeral rites’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600funerailles‘funeral rites’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1661funeral

Earliest quotation: 1661, Giles Collier: “The taking Away of Righteous & Merciful Perſons muſt…”

first attested First attested in 1437 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

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’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- ‘to die’

death, dead, die, dusty, typhus, doze, dwindle, 4 more

Today it means

noun A ceremony to honor and remember a deceased person, often distinguished from a memorial service by the presence of the body of the deceased.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin fūnus / funeral

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