sarcophagus

[ sahr-kof-uh-guhs ]

noun

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

1. a stone coffin, especially one bearing sculpture, inscriptions, etc., often displayed as a monument.
2. Greek Antiquity. a kind of stone thought to consume the flesh of corpses, used for coffins.

sarcophagus

/ sɑːˈkɒfəɡəs /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sarcophagus¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sarcophagus¹

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

Example Sentences

With that, they went to a commercial break, and you could hear the sarcophagus slam shut on Vance’s smiling fascism.

From Salon

He lives there in a stone-walled house he calls Stargate Manor, a temple of expensive kitsch with its own arboretum, chapel — where George prays to Jesus, Buddha and Mother Nature — and waiting sarcophagus.

From Los Angeles Times

About five hours into Ultros, you realize this heady biome is both a sarcophagus and the place of birth for something dark and unknown.

From New York Times

Swirling sands wrapped the dead trees in a natural sarcophagus.

From New York Times

The journalist didn’t think the Louvre’s security was any good, and to prove it, when the museum closed, he crawled inside the sarcophagus of an Egyptian king and stayed there until the morning.

From Literature

Related Words

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