funeral

Forms

funeral m (plural funerais)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin fūnerālis (“of a funeral”), a learned word of the 16th century.^[2][3][1] Houaiss and the DLP call the source Latin, Silva Bastos and Figueiredo Low Latin, Wiktionary Late Latin.^{[2][4][5][6][1]} Nascentes instead explains the word as formed in Portuguese from the Latin noun with the suffix -al.^[7]

The same Latin adjective gave Galician funeral, Spanish funeral, Catalan funeral and Italian funerale.^[1][8] The Spanish word is first recorded in 1590.^[9]

The Latin adjective is formed on the oblique stem of fūnus (“funeral rites”) with the suffix -ālis.^[1] The origin of the noun is uncertain: de Vaan considers a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to be afraid”) (“fear” > “mourning”) not compelling, and also mentions a connection with *dʰew- (“to go, pass away”).^[10] Wiktionary leans to the second, which would make the word a distant relative of the English word death.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date, 1559, is for the adjective, in the sense “funereal, of a burial”.^[2] Cunha dates the word to the 16th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The noun, “the ceremonies of a burial”, often used in the plural funerais, grew out of the adjective.^[2][11] Folqman in 1755 renders the masculine noun with Latin funus and exequiae, and Morais in 1813 defines it as the obsequies or burial.^[12][13] Vieira still put the adjective first, with uses such as canto funeral and ave funeral, a bird whose cry was thought to foretell death.^[14]

The phrase em funeral means “in sign of mourning”, and in Portugal it is said of a flag at half-mast.^[2][15] Figueiredo also recorded a slang sense, “praise”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1559 – first record, as an adjective.^[2]
• 1711 – funeral in a private letter.^[16]
• 1755 – Folqman's dictionary lists the noun.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais defines the noun as obsequies or burial.^[13]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira lists the adjective with canto funeral and ave funeral.^[14]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records em funeral “in sign of mourning” and a slang sense “praise”.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The ceremonies of burial; a funeral, often in the plural: Os funerais do antigo presidente juntaram milhares de pessoas.^[2][4][1]
2. A funeral procession.^[4][17]
3. em funeral: in sign of mourning; of a flag, at half-mast.^[2][15]

Adjective

1. Relating to death or burial; fúnebre, funerary.^[2][4][1]
2. (literary) Gloomy, dreary; recalling death.^[1][18]

Related words

• fúnebre
• funerário
• funéreo
• funesto
• exéquias
• Latin fūnus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. funeral
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. fúnebre
4. ^ a b c d Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. funeral
5. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. funeral
6. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. funeral
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. funeral
8. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. funeral
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. funeral
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. funeral
12. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. funeral
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 69
14. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 803
15. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. funeral
16. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. funeral
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4529
18. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. funeral