sarcophagus

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɑːˈkɒfəɡəs/ (UK); /sɑɹˈkɑfəɡəs/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

borrowed from Latin sarcophagus,^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} from Ancient Greek σαρκοφάγος (sarkophágos, “flesh-eating”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} from sárx (genitive sarkós) “flesh” + phageîn “to eat”.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Greek phrase líthos sarkophágos “flesh-eating stone” named a limestone that was believed to decompose quickly the bodies laid in it, and so was used for coffins.^{[2][3][4][7][1]} The stone came from near Assos in the Troad, in what is now Turkey.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In English, as in Greek, the word first meant the stone: a kind of limestone thought to consume the flesh of corpses (1601).^[7][2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Greek sarkophágos came to be used on its own for a coffin, and Latin sarcophagus for a coffin of any material.^[2] In English the meaning “stone coffin”, often carved or inscribed, is recorded from 1705.^[7][2][3][4] Shortened in Vulgar Latin to *sarcus, the word is the source of German Sarg “coffin”, French cercueil and Dutch zerk “tombstone”.^[4] In the 19th century it was even used for a wine cooler.^[7]

Timeline

• 1601 – the flesh-consuming stone.^[7][2][3]
• 1617 – “flesh-eating person or animal”.^[7]
• 1619 – date given by Merriam-Webster.^[5]
• 1705 – “stone coffin”.^[7][2][3][4]
• 1833 – “wine cooler”.^[7]
• 1862 – verb, “to place in a sarcophagus”.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A stone coffin, often decorated with sculpture or inscriptions.
2. (historical) A limestone used by the ancient Greeks for coffins, believed to consume the flesh of the dead.

Related words

• sarcophagous
• sarcasm
• esophagus
• coffin
• mummy
• -phagous

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary observes that the gruesome name suits a gruesome object: literally, a sarcophagus is a “flesh-eater”.^[2]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. [1] [2] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press