obituary

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi/, /əˈbɪt͡ʃɹi/ (UK); /əˈbɪt͡ʃəˌwɛɹi/, /əˈbɪt͡ʃuˌɜɹi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin obituārius (“(record) of death”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} perhaps through French obituaire,^[3][6] from Latin obitus (“a going to meet; death”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from obīre “to go to meet”, as in mortem obīre “to meet death”,^[2][3][4] from Latin ob (“toward”) + īre (“to go”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A register of deaths or of the days on which the dead were commemorated (1706).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Latin obitus “departure” was itself a euphemism for death, like Old English forþfaran “to go forth” and French trépasser “to pass beyond”.^[4] The sense “a record or announcement of a death, especially in a newspaper, with a brief account of the person's life” dates from 1738.^[7][3][4][5] As an adjective, “relating to a death”, it is recorded from 1828.^[7][4] It is often shortened to obit.^[1]

Timeline

• 1706 – a register of deaths.^[7][3][4]
• 1738 – a published notice of a death.^[7][4][5]
• 1828 – adjective.^[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A published notice of a person's death, usually with a brief account of their life, as in a newspaper.

Adjective

1. Relating to or recording a death, as in the obituary page.

Word family

• obit

Related words

• exit
• transit
• necrology

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press