Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sarcophagus

/sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English

Syllables
sar-co-phag-us
IPA
/sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A stonen coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture.

noun

A type of wine cooler (“a piece of equipment used to keep wine chilled”) shaped like a sarcophagus (sense 1).

verb

To enclose (a corpse, etc.) in a sarcophagus (noun sense 1).

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Latin sarcophagus (“grave; sarcophagus; flesh-eating, carnivorous”), from Ancient Greek σᾰρκοφᾰ́γος (sărkophắgos, “sarcophagus; flesh-eating, carnivorous”) (so named from λῐ́θος σᾰρκοφᾰ́γος (lĭ́thos sărkophắgos, literally “flesh-eating stone”) a type of limestone found at Assos in Troas (now Behramkale, Turkey) thought to consume the flesh of corpses, and thus used to make coffins), from σαρκός (sarkós) (the genitive form of σάρξ (sárx, “flesh; body”), from Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- (“to carve; to cut off, trim”)) + -φάγος (-phágos, suffix meaning ‘eater (of); eating’) (from ἔφαγον (éphagon, “to devour, eat”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g- (“to allot, distribute; to divide”)). The plural form sarcophagi is borrowed from Latin sarcophagī. The verb is derived from the noun.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *twerḱ-, sarcophagus, σᾰρκοφᾰ́γος, *bʰeh₂g-, sarcophagī

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/
  • British English: /sɑːˈkɒfəɡəs/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce sarcophagus?
The recorded pronunciation is /sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/.
What does sarcophagus mean?
A stonen coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture.
Where does sarcophagus come from?
It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce sarcophagus

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sarcophagus”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sarcophagus”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “sarcophagus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.