funeral housen.
/ˈfjuːn(ə)rəl haʊs/, /ˈfjuːn(ə)rl̩ haʊs/, U.S. /ˈfjun(ə)rəl ˌhaʊs/ 1. A residence at which the body of a dead person lies before burial or cremation, and at which mourners gather before or after the funeral.Now particularly common in the English of South and South-East Asia and parts of Africa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > obsequies > [noun] > home of deceased
funeral house1629
1629 J. Cole Of Death 164 After any buriall, the neerest friends returne to the Funerall house.
1670 J. Ogilby Africa 699 Many Women and Maids Dance to the sound thereof a sober Dance; which done, they go to lament in the Funeral-house.
1798 W. Heath Let. 19 June in Mem. 171 To bear the corpse from the funeral house to the place of interment.
a1824 J. Briggs Remains (1825) 234 A full meal of bread and cheese and ale is provided at the ‘funeral house’.
1884 St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat 25 Jan. 9/1 Talk of this kind was freely indulged in about the funeral house all day.
1940 Béaloideas 10 286 A couple of days after the funeral..all the young girls of the neighbourhood collected to the funeral house for ‘the washing’.
1959 Africa 29 46 The labia, after greeting the elders of the funeral house, pours a libation and addresses the departed in the following..words.
2015 Times of Zambia (Nexis) 18 May The others would readily help by fundraising for food and money for the bereaved family besides sleeping at the funeral house.
2015 Hiru News (Sri Lanka) (Nexis) 22 Oct. After paying their last respects both had engaged in a cordial discussion with the people gathered at the funeral house.
2. An establishment which offers various undertaking services, including preparation of the body for burial or cremation and provision of rooms for viewings and funeral services; a funeral home, a funeral parlour. Also: a building where bodies are kept before burial or cremation; a mortuary.Now particularly common in the English of South and South-East Asia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > preparation or treatment of corpse > [noun] > mortuary
lich-housec1200
coffin-house1611
dead-house1812
dead-room1835
funeral house1850
mortuary1864
hearse-house1870
slumber room1936
1850 Ecclesiologist 10 339 Vague terms as Burial-House, or Rest-House, or Funeral-House, will never come into vogue.
1869 Liverpool Mercury 9 Nov. 1/4 (advt.) Pugh & company's mourning and funeral house.
1894 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 28 Oct. 20/1 The Paris municipal council..authorized Dr. Bergeron to create mortuary waiting rooms where families could dispose of the bodies of their deceased temporarily, while awaiting definite inhumation, one of these funeral houses is already in use.
1927 San Mateo (Calif.) Times 23 Aug. 1/2 An ordinance which would change the fee for licenses granted embalmers, funeral houses and undertakers had its first reading last night.
1964 Times 8 Apr. 1/1 Flowers to S. H. Greedy & Son Ltd., Funeral House, Camberley.
2007 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 17 Nov. a6 Should funeral houses be licensed?
2014 Philippines Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 12 Sept. She was brought to a funeral house for an autopsy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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