obsequies

See also: obsequiés

English

Etymology

Plural of obsequy; from Middle English obsequias, obsequies, obsequyes, from Latin obsequiae.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔbsɪ.kwiːz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

obsequies pl (plural only)

1. (plural only) Funeral rites.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 163:

     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.

Usage notes

• the plural only usage is favored by the Oxford Dictionary, and thus can be considered to be British, whereas Webster's dictionary, with prevalence of the usage in the plural being noted, gives both singular and plural forms of the word.
• in modern usage, not to be confused with obsequious

Translations

funeral rites

• Bulgarian: погребение (bg) n (pogrebenie)
• French: obsèques (fr)
• Hungarian: gyászszertartás (hu)
• Irish: cluiche caointe m
• Maori: tangihanga (mi)
• Russian: по́хороны (ru) pl (póxorony), погребе́ние (ru) n (pogrebénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: pogrebni obred m

Noun

obsequies

1. plural of obsequy.
2. plural of obsequie.

References

• The Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus. American Edition. Oxford University Press, 1997
• Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. Random House, 1996.

Anagrams

• Essequibo

Portuguese

Verb

obsequies

1. second-person singular present subjunctive of obsequiar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /obˈsekjes/ [oβ̞ˈse.kjes]
• Rhymes: -ekjes
• Syllabification: ob‧se‧quies

Verb

obsequies

1. second-person singular present subjunctive of obsequiar