Meanings
- pluralplural onlyFuneral rites.
A murmur of astonishment ran through the chapel. It was hushed instantly, for, at a sign from Lord Avonleigh, the coffin was carried into the vault; and again the voice of the priest was the only sound, breathing the last and solemn benediction of the mournful obsequies.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 163
Origin
- Latinobsequiae
- Middle Englishobsequias
- Englishobsequies
Plural of obsequy; from Middle English obsequias, obsequies, obsequyes, from Latin obsequiae.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian погребение
- погребение (pogrebenie)funeral rites
French obsèques
- obsèquesfuneral rites
Hungarian gyászszertartás
- gyászszertartásfuneral rites
Irish cluiche caointe
- cluiche caointefuneral rites
Māori tangihanga
- tangihangafuneral rites
Russian по́хороны, погребе́ние
- по́хороны (póxorony)funeral rites
- погребе́ние (pogrebénije)funeral rites
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
obsequies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obsequies
“obsequies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obsequies. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “obsequies,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obsequies.
Source: obsequies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.