catafalque
/ˈkatəfalk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.45 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Until noon, the hour of the funeral, crowds continued to file by the plain pine coffin on its plain flower-covered catafalque."
- "After another brief funeral rite at Tzu Hu, the presidential casket was laid on the catafalque in the central hall of a temporary “mausoleum” and sealed with marble slabs. There, the body of President Chiang will rest pending permanent burial in the mainland after its recovery."
- "The period of official mourning was long-drawn-out even by the standards of the day; the funeral ceremony held in Avignon's cathedral lasted a full nine days, with the pope's catafalque hung with black silk beneath candelabra likewise draped in black."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ) Etruscan 𐌚𐌀𐌋𐌀 (fala)bor. Latin fala Vulgar Latin [Term?]? Italian catafalcobor. French catafalquebor. English catafalque Borrowed from French catafalque, from Italian catafalco, from Vulgar Latin *catafalicum, from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down”) + Latin fala (“scaffolding, wooden siege tower”), which is from Etruscan. Also influenced scaffold.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈkatəfalk/