obsequies

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   funeral rites or ceremonies, especially formal ones

   Dignitaries gathered in the cathedral for the statesman's obsequies.

A plural-only noun from Middle English obsequies, through Anglo-Norman French and Medieval Latin obsequiae. The form was influenced by Latin obsequium, 'dutiful service,' and exsequiae, 'funeral rites,' linking the ceremonies with the final duties paid to the dead.

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