obsequy

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English

The obsequies observed for John Horwood on April 13, 2011

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English obseque, from Old French obseque, osseque, from Latin obsequiī (“complaisant, yielding”), alteration of obsequia (“compliance”) (by confusion, in association with exsequia (“funeral rites”), from exsequī (“follow or accompany to the grave”)).

Pronunciation

Noun

obsequy (plural obsequies)

  1. The last office for the dead.
  2. (chiefly in the plural) A funeral rite or service.
    • 1478, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales:
      And to the ladyes he reſtored agayn / The bodyes of her huſbandes yͭ were ſlayn / To done obſequies as tho was the gyſe.
      And to the ladies he restored again / The bodies of their husbands that were slain / To do obsequies as then was the custom.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
      It was a rather ghastly ceremony, but it was the only means in our power of showing our respect to the faithful dead and of celebrating his obsequies.
    • 1919 , Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 13:
      But, to-day, there were no obsequies to observe at all.

Usage notes

  • In modern usage, the word is used mainly in the plural, obsequies, which should not be confused with obsequious.
English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ- (follow) (0 c, 115 e)
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