funeral

views updated May 18 2018

fu·ner·al / ˈfyoōn(ə)rəl/ • n. the ceremonies honoring a dead person, typically involving burial or cremation. ∎  rare a sermon delivered at such a ceremony. ∎ archaic or poetic/lit. a procession of mourners at a burial.PHRASES: it's (or that's) someone's funeral inf. used to warn someone that an unwise act or decision is their responsibility: “I won't discuss it.” “Don't then—it's your funeral.”

funeral

views updated May 29 2018

funeral it's your funeral used informally to warn someone that an unwise act or decision is their responsibility.
one funeral makes many sometimes with the implication that attendance at a deathbed or funeral may have fatal consequences. (Compare one wedding brings another.) The saying is recorded from the late 19th century.

See also dream of a funeral and you hear of a marriage.

funeral

views updated May 18 2018

funeral adj. XIV; sb. XVI. The adj. is — OF. funeral — late L. fūnerālis, f. fūnus, fūner- obsequies, death, corpse; the sb. is — (O)F. funéraille(s) — medL. fūnerālia; see -AL1.
So funereal XVIII. f. L. fūnereus.

Funeral

views updated Jun 11 2018

288. Funeral

  1. Viking funeral given to Michael Geste by his younger brother, as in their childhood games. [Br. Lit.: P. C. Wren Beau Geste in Benét, 87]

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