exequies

/ ˈɛksɪkwɪz /

plural noun

1. the rites and ceremonies used at funerals

Word History and Origins

Origin of exequies¹

C14: from Latin exequiae (plural) funeral procession, rites, from exequī to follow to the end, from sequī to follow

Example Sentences

His bowels and eyes were buried at Roan: The rest of his bodie was stuffed with salt, wrapped vp in Oxe hides, and brought ouer into England; and with honourable exequies buried in the Monastery of Reading, which hee had founded.

From Project Gutenberg

But before these Honourable Exequies could be performed, an unhappy Letter from the True Humphrey Wickham Esq; a Person of a great Estate and Reputation, detected the whole Fraud and Delusion, and the Remains of our Quandam Person of Honour was committed to Earth, in a Coffin, price 4s. with Shrowd and other Funeral Materials accordingly.

From Project Gutenberg

Even allowing for the high rhetorical tint required of such exequies 150 years ago, it's hard to think of an American artist whose death, tomorrow, would inspire such sentiments.

From Time Magazine Archive

The exequies over the body were as solemn as they were premature; dust devils of argument spun through art magazines, scattering the ashes.

From Time Magazine Archive

When he had carved his way through them, and had directed the exertions of his united forces against the besiegers, who still raved, like wolves, around him, he gave some thought to those companions, whose fate it had been, to lay their bodies on the causeway, or to take their rest, with such exequies as could be rendered in the lamentations of men expecting each instant to share their fate, under the salt bosom of Tezcuco.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• burial
• cremation